


Voltron Family Moments

by Emi_The_Ninja



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU arcs, Angst, Ch 28&29 birthday fic, Fluff, Humor, Multi, One-Shots, mpreg+twins in ch27, ⬅️Good + Bad Endings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-10-02 10:25:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 52,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17262560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emi_The_Ninja/pseuds/Emi_The_Ninja
Summary: A series of one-shots and arcs about the Voltron Paladins, their Mother-hen lions and their allies. Welcome to the fluffiness, laugh and tears.(Works from my FF.net account. Updates on random times.)





	1. Kerberos

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first work i post here and i have sooo many chapters left to post... but i hope you will enjoy and that my way of writing isn't to bad.
> 
> If looks slightly different then on FF it's coz i edited the crap out of it here. (Which i had to coz i cringe so much when i read it days after posting.)

~Chapter 1 - Kerberos~

Matthew Holt was deep in thought staring into his book but not really reading as fingers snapped just by the tip on his nose and he jolted backwards, glasses slipping down his nose as he stared up at Shiro who quirked a brow at him. "You okay?"

Adjusting his glasses and slamming the book shut Matt sighed. "Am I okay? Am I- Of course not! I haven't come up with the best scenario to tell Keith about this! Man he's going to either murder us or the higher ups! My bet? The latter!" Shiro sat down beside him and all air seemed to leave his lungs as he tapped the table with his knuckles.

"I think he knows already. I've looked everywhere for him and-"

Matt's head landed on the table with a thud and a groan. "Why did they have to send us both away? What if something happens?! What if they announce us dead and Keith hears about it and-"

Shiro dove forward and shook Matt by the shoulders. "Matt years of my lifespan has been hacked away already! No need to hack away like 40 years more!" He let go and cradled his head in his hands as he tried to breath and not think about what Keith would do if he found out or what he was thinking if he had already found out about Shiro and Matt both being sent to Kerberos. Great honor sure but a huge mistake to send them both away and leave someone with abandonment issues and feisty temper.

They got up to get some air on the roof and by the far side of it they found Keith laying on his back looking at the stars, his hands would normally be clasped behind his head were laying on his stomach wrapped in bandages. Matt sighed and Shiro ran a hand over his face.

Keith had sooo found out and probably split his knuckles on a punching bag or a wall.

"You hate us don't you?" Matt decided to cut to the chase, pinching between his eyes as Keith looked at them before sitting up, when he didn't say anything they sat down in a triangle. Keith was slowly rubbing his left hand with his right until Shiro took it and Matt took the left.

"How long?"

"Some months...A year at most." Shiro mumbled and carefully cradled the wrapped hand in his, trying not to think what they looked like underneath. Matt sat with his head bent and then shook it. "They were eager to announce but it was like I was behind a thick door with the air being sucked out of the room. Shiro looked like he was ready to punch someone." Keith looked at the man like he found it hard to believe. He was the unstable one not Shiro but then again it took a lot of things to make Shiro snap.

They sat there for a long time until Shiro stood up and led them back to the dorms. Keith slipped into his room and on their way Matt stopped and slid down the wall to the floor. "It feels like something is stabbing me and sucking the air out... Maybe we should decline?"

"...As much as I wish for that they won't accept it as a good reason."

Matt tried at least with his father whom later went to speak with Keith who was studying in his room. Sam sat down in the other chair and began after a minute. "Matt told me a little about your past and I have seen how well the three of you are together. I can't imagine what it's like for you all now and yes this might not be my business but I have a favor to ask."

Keith slowly looked at him and the dark bags under his eyes made Sam almost want to call off the mission or have the high ups pick other people. "Katie got accepted here and she doesn't know it yet, Matt has told you about her right? (Keith nodded) Good, well the thing is- I wanted to ask if you could mentor her? She wants some skills in flight and you have some trouble with the other classes don't you? You could help each other and miss the three of us together?"

Understandably it was quiet so Sam picked up a random notebook and skimmed through it.

"Sure. I could try at least... We've skyped with her a few times so we aren't really strangers. She agrees with me and Shiro that Matt's a dork."

"My side of that equation, I'm afraid. Colleen has pointed that out one to many times." Sam smiled slightly as he put the notebook back and clasped his hands. "I suppose visits to the Chancellor's office is out of the question? Have the Garrison know a bit more about you?" Keith shrugged and turned back to his text book, bandaged hands laying on both sides. Sam slipped out and went to Shiro's room where he and Matt were waiting.

"Not much talking but he has agree to keep an eye on Katie. Hopefully she'll do the same."

000

Day of the launch came far to quickly and though he wanted nothing more then to stay in bed and feel his soul wanting to leave his body Keith came to see his friends off, it was still early and Shiro led him to the rocket with a hand on his shoulder. Seeing that this was torturing him Shiro hugged him and whispered things that sounded hollow and let go as Matt came over.

"Pidge I wished I had canceled this all sooner but-"

"I'll be happy to break your leg. Shiro will have to jump from something high and break an arm." She hugged herself as the smile faded. Keith stood beside wanting nothing more then to kidnap the two and just leave the launch site and if he did Shiro and Matt would follow willingly. After that everything was a blur of flashing cameras, reporters, Iverson and then they stood with Colleen watching the rocket lift. Katie looked at Keith with Matt's glasses on her nose and slowly moved to hug his arm and fight the tears.

"Tell me this is just a bad dream..."

Keith watched with a boulder in his throat as 2/3 of his sanity slowly disappeared from them. Katie blinked the tears away but it only caused them to fall. "If I have to go up there to get them back I'm dragging you with me."

A year passed and dragged to space they were, by a blue alien robot lion with Hunk and Lance and a returned Shiro.


	2. Bonds and Take Downs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red's idea of a bonding time with her new Paladin is a hot-headed one. Yes pun intended with these two!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay it goes faster then i thought it would to get the chapters over -shrugs-
> 
> \- Takes place little after S2E4 'Greening the Cube'

**~Chapter 2 - Bonds and Take Downs~  
**

_Keith._

_Little cub._

Keith sat up rubbing his eyes and looked around his room to find who spoke but found it empty and so he stood up and put on his boots and walked past the mirror, backtracked and snorted at the complete mess his mullet was. "Lance would have died if he saw me right now. Now where was the comb or brush?" Keith looked around and got his bed-hair sorted out.

_Kieth._

"Red? Wait you can talk?!"

_Our bond has a telepathic link as well. It makes our partnership equally tighter._

"I was so sure you would make a fire related pun in that sentence but okay." He made his way to her hanger and found her in sphinx pose and lowered her head to him. _Where we are going you will need your armor. We have to be fast before Black catches on and you know who else would catch on?_ Keith nodded and soon he was in the pilot seat taking the controls and silently they left the Castle of Lions. "Red where are we going really? In the middle of the night?" He air quoted 'night' and waited for a response.

_As Paladins you are also bound to an element. Ours is that of fire-_

"Oh joy, more proof I'm a hot head."

_-Laughter- And I wouldn't have my Paladin any other way. Do not get me wrong, Alfor was a great friend and Paladin and we Lions owe him much for making us. And while we shared a trait or two it isn't like you and I right now. You humans picked up our links far quicker then the Paladins of Old. Black as you can understand is more cautious with her link as Zarkon most likely still has a connection._

"Coran mention something about that _._ I'm guessing this is a long flight so why not tell me more about the old paladins?"

**000**

Shiro bolted into Red's hanger to find it empty and Black roaring in the back of his mind in what could only be panic. He had woken up from a nightmare and had gone to talk to Keith about it but found his room empty, his red jacket hanging on the wall, went to see if he was in the training deck but it was empty, ran to find his armor missing and now found Red's hanger empty. Shiro ran his hands through his fringe and took deep breaths.

"Okay okay let's not wake the whole Castle up yet. Keith loves flying, he probably couldn't sleep and training clearly didn't do anything... Uh... Oh who am I kidding I'm about to lose it!" He threw his hands up and Black growled.

_Red is impulsive but this is just ridiculous! And her Paladin equally so! Get your armor so we can find them and wake the Castle. I hope you have a good lecture thought out because I will certainly give Red one._

"I'm getting the feeling you lions are leaning more to the mother side right abo-"

_Now Takashi!_

Shiro grinned as he jogged to get changed and before he used the exit to Black's hanger he woke up the Castle. "Everyone get up. Reds have left the Castle." That must have been the fastest they had ever moved because they arrived in armor and headed for their hangers, Lance yelling the whole time about Keith being nuts, reckless and hothead. Allura was almost red with fury and Coran tried to a lock on Red. Shiro got into Black and they deployed from the Castle following Coran's lock on and Shiro finally muted Lance.

Instead Pidge appeared. "Any quiznaking idea why Keith would leave?!"

"Just because I've known Keith before Kerberos doesn't mean I always know how he acts and when. Besides I've been away for a year, he may not be the same Keith I knew." Pidge slowly deflated at that. "Yes you're right. I'm sorry I forgot what you've been through. Heck your arm should be enough reminder but-"

"Uh Pidge? Rambling." Hunk warned and Pidge blushed. "Gah! Curse my random talking!" Shiro chuckled as her feed closed and Hunk smiled with a shrug. "Well she was suddenly called out of bed and into a chase so I think we can forgive her."

"I'm not mad Pidge." Shiro called out and her feed appeared again, her face almost pink. Lance appeared with a pout and Shiro cringed.

"Sorry Lance, forgot I muted you. I'm guessing you have an input?"

Lance crossed his arms and sighed. "Well yes but- Blue told me she may know what Red is up to. She thinks this is Red's way of bonding with Keith outside of battle but of course Red can't pick a more reasonable time for it."

_I told you. Red is rash. She acts more then she plans._

"Like Keith then."

"Sorry?"

"Replied to Black who says Red acts before planning. Kinda like Keith."

_"Geez alright! Point made already!"_

Red was on an asteroid that moved into their view and her yellow eyes locked on them like they were more prey then hunters. Black growled at her and Shiro felt the anger rage through. "Okay Black lets not slag them before we hear them out?" He pleaded for Keith hoping to get his friend back in one piece. Red suddenly took off towards the planet below and they scattered.

"Whoa! Where is Red going?!" Pidge cried out from Green's cute upside-down state. Hunk looked out the window and saw them enter the planet's atmosphere. "Um... Entering the planet's atmosphere but they aren't burning up."

Allura appeared in view. _"That is because the Red Lion is built to resist heat. You could say it is Fire rela-"_

_"Ah yes that make very much sense now! King Alfor built the Lion with an Element in mind! We know Pidge is Forest thanks to the Olkari helping the two connect, Lance felt faster underwater with Blue. Red must be trying to deepen their bond by going to a more fire related planet!"_ Coran appeared in view and the Paladins blinked at him.

"Oookay so Red was actually planning." Lance spoke up and then grinned. "Hey Shiro? What is Black's re-"

Black roared loud and angry enough to make the others hide behind asteroids. All Shiro could do was to hold his hands up in a 'don't shoot' pose and gulp. "Uuuh..." Was all he could get out and Blue poke out of her hiding spot. "Yeah okay we get it. Reds are still slagged!" Lance chuckled nervously.

**000**

Keith listened to Red's tale when the radio picked up chatter and he realized it was Voltron. "Well, I think they found out we were gone." He hid behind an asteroid and slowly their temper ticked down as team Voltron kept talking about the two making rash choices.

_And Blue was not rash for bringing you light years from Earth without warning?_

"Hold that comment until we're done. This the planet?"

_It is one of the more fire related planets we were near. I thought now was a good enough time as any. Don't want the last place do you?_

"So long as you convince Black not to stomp me." Keith replied deadpanned and Red laughed. He turned on the leg thrusters and barked into the radio. "Geez alright! Point made already!" The asteroid moved them into view and they heard Shiro speak up.

_"Okay Black lets not slag them before we hear them out?"_

Red however now took control and took off from the asteroid and down to the planet. Keith gripped the controls looking over his shoulder. "Are you nuts?! Black is going to shred us for this!" He yelled as they entered the atmosphere like a meteor.

_Black would listen yes but not likely understanding. Her element is Air-_

"In human terms air gives fuel to fire!"

_Oooh! So that is what Shiro is to you?_

Keith was almost darker then red at that point turning on his helmet and blacked the screen to hide his embarrassment. Red was so taking the mother thing seriously and she loved to see him so flustered, he didn't even defend himself!

_I did not hear any back talking?_ She pressed on and felt him wanting to bale out of the cockpit before he exploded with embarrassment. They entered the planet that mostly made up of volcanoes, lava pools and rivers and rocky land patches. Red swung around to look and saw the other Lions enter as well.

_"Keith! What are you doing?!"_

_"Come on Mullet... Stop playing games!"_

_"Coran how much heat can the Red Lion stand?!"_

_"Keith... Keith please stop this!"_

Deactivating the black screen Keith looked at them and then at the pools below. "You're going to dive right in aren't you? Sure I want to connect with you but Shiro would probably either get more white haired or have a heart attack!" He couldn't deny the strength he felt being near the fire related theme but he wasn't that rash. He wanted to tell Shiro how this place felt and calm him... Red dove straight down into a pool and the lava rose on the impact. Keith could hear the radio explode with screams from the team and the Lions roar. Coran was freaking out and Red made the radio crackle and then made it appear like it had gone out. Keith could hear the team panic and could only imagine Shiro right now.

"So we're in a pool of lava, we just gave them heart attacks or strokes and I can feel how much strong I am in this... But there's something you haven't told me?"

_...Yes. You saw the large mountain when we arrived did you not? I felt Galra there. There's a hidden base on this planet._

"Aaand you want to take it out by going the lava way? Can we at least tell the others? Have them nuke out on the Galra and not us?"

_Oh fine. Radio works now._

Keith smiled and breathed out. "Guys... Guys I'm fine. Red felt a Galra base in the largest mountain. We're taking them by surprise from the lava and no this was not my idea Red moved on her on accord!"

_"Keith... Oh thank the-"_

_"Dude I can't decide who wants to kill you first! Black or her Paladin!"_

_"Don't ever scare us like that stupid! Just because my biological brother is missing doesn't mean I want any of my found brothers dead!"_

_"Wait what?"_

_"Seriously?"_

_"...Oh can it you two..."_

_"Piiidge!"_

Keith huffed a quiet laugh when a private feed appeared of Shiro, eyes red rimmed and his arm going down like he had just wiped the tears. _"Keith you- Please don't even do that again! At least tell_ **me** _what you're planning to do!"_ Aaand Keith felt like an ass. Thanks Red!

"Shiro I'm sorry I- Red was acting before I know what was going on! I didn't want to scare you that badly! We're close to the surface now. Galra flight hanger... Guess they couldn't make anything that withstood lava. Hanger doors all over the ceiling... And tanks of that glowing stuff again. Purple instead of yellow being loaded to a ship..."

Shiro wiped his eyes again and took a deep breath to try and fall into leader mode again. _"So another processing station, that means there must be a druid nearby too. Let's cue up with the others... We'll try talk in private later."_

"I'm getting grounded aren't I?"

_"Well let me see, I'm 7 years older and Coran is I don't know what- but yes you are **so** grounded. Allura might slag you in training for this stunt so yes you are getting grounded and punished for this!" _

"Lovely." Keith sighed as he switched to the team channel to hear Shiro explain what they had talked about, he gave them a heads up that a ship was leaving the hanger now and Hunk called out that the ground split up. "Let me know when to wreak havoc or should I make another try to get that quin-thingy?"

_"Not with a druid nearby. I heard you tried once before."_

Keith pouted at the giggles he heard from the Garrison trio and hung his head. "Matt would agree with me!"

_"And then I would punch him after grounding you."_ Shiro shot back and Keith was bone deep sure Shiro was grinning when he said it and that had really happened before! Shiro had given Keith 2 extra assignments as punishment and Matt had been dragged to Sam who laughed at the grin Shiro had on his face. Red growled him back to the present when alarms blared and sure enough a druid stepped out to see what was going on, from the open hanger doors Keith saw Blue fly around freezing fliers left and right and then Yellow would smack into them.

He caught sight of Black making a large tear in the ship's hull and Green zipping past. Keith checked Red's vitals to see how long they could stay in the lava and so far it showed nothing alarming, Red growled in his mind as more fliers were taken out. "Yeah I think this is their way of united punishment and then individual ones await back at the Castle." More fliers left the hanger and Keith saw that there was plenty of them.

"Hmm... You said we are connected to the fire element. Can we rise the lava and destroy them? Any prisoners here?"

_Yes, yes and no._

With a smile Keith closed his eyes and concentrated. Visualizing an empty rock pool slowly fill up from the bottom with lava and Red's eyes flared up as the lava around them rose up and from the other points, the force field around those spots appearing and going out flooding the place, sentries turning just to be destroyed and the druid taking off in a cloud of black smoke. Keith could hear the Team over the radio.

_"Uh guys! The lava is rising!"_

_"Is it Keith?!"_

_"It has to be! Look in the hanger! The floor is gone!"_

_"But there's none by the control room! Pidge I think he wants you to hack into it."_

_"In that heat?! No can do!"_

Keith finally saw through Red's eyes and flew to the control room's window and there was nothing but the controls for the bay doors, similar to the one in the Balmera. "Just bay door controls." He reported and Red looked down. "Shall I flood the place?"

_"We're done up here with the Galra ship. Lance broke into one and snagged a tank of purple quintessence, Hunk a yellow one. Get out here Keith!"_

Red shoot up in a gazer of lava and joined the others. Lance appeared on a feed looking out the window.

_"Geez dramatic exit much?"_

"Sorry. And I'm sorry for taking off like that guys. I didn't meant to-"

_"We will speak later Keith."_ Allura appeared on their screens and Keith could feel the hair on his neck stand as her eyes seemed to want to freeze him solid.

**000**

On the bridge Allura and Coran waiting for them when they arrived after changing out of armor and as the others took their seats Shiro stayed beside Coran as Allura walked up to Keith who was staring down the floor, his violet eyes tired and filled with fear. Shiro wanted to comfort him but the princess had higher status then him right now.

"Please explain your actions tonight Keith. We have time so make it a long one if you can. Short answers are not tolerated right now." Allura said as she stopped before him.

Keith closed his eyes and started telling them how Red woke him up and how they left the Castle for the planet, how Red had passed most of the flight telling him about the Paladin's of Old and when the others caught up, how Red shot to the planet and they dove into the lava scaring them to death, how they discovered the Galra base inside the large mountain and how they worked to take it out and that they had samples with them now in Blue and Yellow's hangers and finished off with that.

There wasn't much emotions in his voice as he spoke but his hands had clenched several times and Shiro couldn't help but think that if Keith didn't have the gloves on his palms would have bled by now. Allura stood quiet for a minute and frowned. "Please return to your quarters for now Keith. I will not have another run off for tonight." Keith turned and left the bridge and half a minute passed before Allura turned to Shiro.

"Can you back up your end of this event? How did you discover he was gone?"

"Nightmare. Keith offered to hear me out if I had them so I decided to take up on it this time, other times I tried to clear my mind of them and go back to sleep. Anyway I checked his room and found it empty, tried the training deck but couldn't find him there either so I checked the armors and only found ours there and bolted for Red's hanger. Red was gone, I nearly panicked and Black was pissed about it so I changed and called everyone out and we took off after Red, caught up and suddenly Red shot towards the planet, Coran told us about the elemental bonds and we followed to see her hover over a lava pool. We called over the radio and I swear I got a heart attack seeing Red nose dive into the lava and the knowledge of Red's fire resistance just left my head." Shiro tapped his head and let his arm fall back to his side.

"The radio crackled a bit before nothing and we got more nervous thinking Red did have a heat limit after all. Pidge scanned several times, Hunk and Lance were mute and frozen and- I tried to _not_ dive in myself to fish them out." Allura remained quiet before sighing. "We'll speak more about this later. If you wish to have a word to Keith feel free to do so. Shiro only, the rest of your will have your turns. Message him if you can't hold it."

The Paladins left the bridge and Shiro went to Keith's room to find him where he had wanted to find him the first time tonight, in his bed staring up at the ceiling or asleep. Keith turned to find Shiro there and for once he turned his back to him. "I don't want to talk about it any more..."

"That makes two of us... All this started because I had a nightmare and went to you to talk about it. Can't say it made my mind calmer not finding you anywhere on the ship." Shiro stepped in and sat by the end of the bed and by then Keith had turned and sat up.

"What? A flashback?" Keith had long figured out Shiro had PTSD and was glad he had memorized everything about it should he one day find Shiro. The older Paladin nodded and then he realized the question and shook his head.

"No. Funnily enough it was about you and fire... But you didn't come back and Red was trapped by a tractor beam, you having been thrown out when an ion blast took out most of Red's face hull... And..." Shiro's breathing was a little faster now and Keith dove for him, his chin resting on Shiro's head. "I'm here. I'm so sorry I wasn't here to calm you the first time... I'll ask Red not to repeat this again... And I promise to be here when you need me..."

Shiro slowly lifted his arms and rested his forehead on Keith's wonderfully breathing chest. "I still have to ground you for this stunt."

Keith groaned a laugh and held on until they rearranged for bed and woke up still holding each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -checks the time, posts and falls in bed-


	3. Small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being small is both fun and a slightly annoying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just teasing Pidge :) but who hasn't?

**~Chapter 3 - Small~  
**

Pidge hated being small but more often she found it real useful and fun. Like now when she scrammed off with Shiro's vest on her and past Keith who was wiping sweat off his brow with a small towel and laughed when she ran past. "Does he know you have it?"

"He'll blame you!"

"Gee thanks!" He stuck his tongue out at her and entered his room for a shower. He had just exited it and was running a towel over his head when knocking was heard. "If it's you Shiro Pidge is the vest thief! I saw her bolt off with it on her!" Behind the door he heard Shiro laugh.

_"And I'm suppose to believe that?"_

"Check the cams or ask a mouse!" Keith said as he opened the door with his jacket over his shoulder looking up at Shiro's smile, both on his lips and in his eyes. He clearly did not believe Keith to not have his vest and his eyes shifted from the younger man into his room and guessed it was hidden from view.

"Don't yell at me if I decide to ransack it later."

"Oh sure and it's conveniently there because Pidge decided to stuff it there to place the blame on me after all!" Keith huffed as he stepped past Shiro. "Come on, hopefully Hunk called dibs on the kitchen and not Coran."

"If not I'll just hold Coran while Hunk runs off to the kitchen.

To both their relief it was Hunk who was the chef tonight and in her seat was Pidge talking to Lance, still in Shiro's missing vest. Shiro glanced at Keith who had a sad pout on his lips. "Okay so you are innocent _this_ time. Pidge! My vest you little imp!" Pidge squeaked and bolted over Lance to run but Allura snagged her mid air and held her in triumph and a giggle. "Your vest." She turned Pidge to an amused Shiro who was kindly covering his grin with his metal hand.

"Thank you princess." He coughed out and reclaimed it and Pidge was allowed on her feet again to be hair ruffled by Shiro. "Imp because your signature color is green." He explained and took a seat beside Keith who was face pressed in the table clutching his sides in silent laughter and Hunk came back with plates and looked around. "Got your vest back. Who was the catcher when Pidge tried to book it?"

"Allura." Lance pointed over his shoulder to the head of the table with a grin and Pidge sunk lower in her seat and the neck of her shirt hid her lower face. "Should have stuffed it in Keith's room." The red paladin pointed at her while not breaking his current pose and Shiro shook his head with a laugh. "Okay okay I will check her first and then you. Fair?"

Keith rose up and coughed once to compose himself. Hunk handed out the plates and they ate with minimum banter and no food wars, Pidge finished first and excused herself about something in Green's hanger. Not even 5 minutes had passed when Shiro unknowingly smiled and Keith saw it. "Not that I'm glad that you are recovering and smiling but can I know why?"

"Black just told me Pidge was not in Green's hanger."

"She's- Nooo."

"Oooh Yes. And I hope we can see her from here."

Coran rose his hand before him. "We can now that you mention it. Let's see- this no... Here... Ah! There's the feed for the Black hanger, now for the lion's cockpit without outing us..." Sliding it to a larger view they watched as Pidge sat down it the very much larger pilot seat and looked around, then she tried to reach to controls but growled crossing her arms and legs.

_"I swear you are laughing at me right now and you told Shiro I'm here."_

The others looked at Shiro for confirmations and he spread his hands and shrugged. "Oh Black thinks she's adorable and of course she told me. Have I told you when we went looking for the Green lion how we found a canoe and there was this sloth like creature beside us a second after, it startled us and Pidge bolted up on my back. I think I can use those mind bands and show you."

The others laughed and declined because they could see it themselves right now. On the feed they could see Pidge look up over the control panels, grumbled, then got up and left Black's hanger and really headed for Green's now, Coran closed the feed when they had spend 3 minutes watching her type on her laptop.

"Well that was amusing. Now if I may I must go run some diagnostics on the castle to purge any more Galran crystal so none are hiding out causing more 'haunted castle vibes' as Lance calls them." Coran stood up and Allura stood as well. "I'm going to try get some rest. Hunk the food was lovely. I'll see everyone later."

With that they spread out to do their own stuff and Keith trailed after Shiro and caught up with him. "Going to bust Pidge?" "And risk a wrench shaped mark in my face? Thanks but I think I'll stick with the nose bridge one." Shiro lightly ran his left finger over it and Keith bumped into him.

"Aaand you're joking about it. You really are getting better."

"Yeah but I'm still glad you all read up on PTSD. Who knew Pidge had that on her laptop?"

"What doesn't she have on it you mean? I'm going to be on the training deck if you want to look for me later." Keith waved as he turned to another hallway and Shiro nodded with a wave of his own and headed for Green's hanger, Pidge was sitting with the glasses folded beside her and Shiro covered her eyes with his flesh hand, covering most of her face.

"Hmm... Which paladin is the biggest of us and only has a left glove?" She asked out loud and Shiro smiled as he removed it when he felt her tip her head backwards. "I out myself no matter what I do huh?"

"Yup." She smiled back and turned to her laptop again.

Shiro picked up the glasses. "Don't you need these on?"

"No, they are window glass. My sight is fine they are just something Matt left for me. Can't lose them if they are on my nose all the time." She looked at his hand and he tilted his head. "No wonder I asked myself how Matt could not recognize me and be small, my second thought was I had to be in an alternate universe where you were age swapped."

Pidge snorted as he put the glasses back and ruffled her head again. "Oh and Black thought you were adorable trying out her cockpit earlier. Like a cub trying to act bigger then it was." And Pidge pulled up her shirt to hide her red face. "Shiroooo!"

"Hey Matt will just thank me for teasing you twice a day." He shrugged and walked backwards before turning around to join Keith on the training deck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -has nothing to add-


	4. We need you Keith I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> my view on S2E8 - Blade of Marmora aftermath.
> 
> Poor Keith ;_;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> italic - Lions speak
> 
> "italic" - Djinns speak.
> 
> -Italic- - Keith's mind link with Red later in the chapter.

**~Chapter 4 - We need you Keith I~  
**

Night cycle had started 3 Earth hours ago when Keith placed a recording device on his bed and shouldered the bag with his civvies on his left shoulder, his right still wounded and untended. He quietly slipped out of his room looking up and down the hallway as his door closed, he had started to move when-

_You are needed. You cannot leave._

Keith had his knife out looking around when he realized there was another presence next to where Red was.

_Your fear is a misplaced one. You are needed here Red Paladin._

The Black Lion.

Keith sighed as he dropped his fight stance cringing as his shoulder thumped painfully. "Black... I have to do this. You must have known I was different from the others!"

_I sensed it, yes. Yet your heart and soul are like theirs. Wanting to save what planets you can even if your small paws can only do so much. Not all battles ends with victory._

"Then please don't stop me. I have to do this. They are going to book me off the Castle anyway!"

_You are needed. But if this is your desire- We will aid you. Green has located a planet not far from here. Red is not happy about it but will bring you there. I will open the spire, come to my hanger. Do you have your armor? Weapons?_

"My knife, and I never changed out of the armor when we got back."

_We feel the wound on your shoulder. Blue is unhappy you have not treated it. Come, there is little time._

Keith made his way to Black's hanger and waiting there were the lions with Blue hovering above looking at him with a sad purr. Yellow was laying with her head on her front legs and Green sat on her hunches with down-tilted head. Black stood on her platform looking at him, pose majestic but her voice sounded sad and with regret.

_Your decision is noted but we beg you to think it through. You are needed to form Voltron's right arm. You are our blade. My Paladin needs you... Yet we agree you help you. The paladins are not aware yet.  
_

Red lowered her head and opens her jaw for him to climb in and he slots the bayard in its socket but leaves it unturned.

_Please cub. We may be 'acting first ramble later' but now I wish it to be the opposite right now._

Keith clenched his jaw as his eyes sting. "I- I just can't- I know Shiro skipped telling them I'm part Galra and-"

_Let me handle that. We will return for you. Perhaps then it will be the proof you need._

Black's eyes shone as her spire exit opened up with no alarms sounding and Red lifted. The left-behind lions watched in sadness before returning to their hangers but not before sending their last words to Keith.

_Lance will not like this._

_Pidge has lost enough family. Please don't add yourself on that list._

_Hunk will sorely miss you._

Keith closed his eyes and let Red fly them to wherever Green was sending them. He thought about what he was doing and once again told himself that it was the right thing to do, he was part Galra... Heck he should just turn himself in-

_Not happening. This is enough torture cub. I wish Black had not convinced me to do this._

"You knew yet you let me pilot you."

_I care little about your blood. It is your heart and soul I care more for and right now they are both being torn. Do you really think they will reject you?_

"Others have. I've learned to push them away before they leave me."

_Hmm... Perhaps Black's Paladin is not the only one with a trauma... You believed us lions would reject you as well for being Galra._

Keith couldn't speak at this point so he only nodded. Shiro's disappearance had been a real sucker punch in the gut and his heart had ached for months to the point he thought he couldn't handle it anymore. Next punch had been the knife changing its form and Kolivan revealing he was part Galran. The universe must really hate him and what better way was there to tell that oh hey, you're part of the very race who destroyed Allura and Coran's planet, took Shiro's arm and a year of his life and took Pidge's family from her!

Next would have been Red using her fire blast to ash him on the spot.

_Cub, your mind is truly damaged right now. Black feared as much when she sensed you leave your room earlier. I would never leave you willingly and I very much doubt the Paladins will as well. We have arrived._

Keith looked out the window and did a double take. It looked like a normal planet, but the water was lava and the people looked like Djinns. Their heads and lower body fire, upper body thin skin with wraps like mummies. The leaders had more robe like wraps as they floated forward after Red had landed and Keith stepped out.

_"Mother of Fire. Guardian of Fire. We welcome you."_

_Djinns of my element. The paladin before you is one of the new. Voltron has been reformed yet trouble as lit a flame of doubt and fear in my cub. Galra blood flows through him yet my sisters and I can not convince him other wise. Black Lion begs your care for him as we deal with this. He has much to learn about his element as well._

_"We heard you Mother. We sense the doubt and fear, his flame is flickering out. We will take this task."_

Red lowered her head to Keith who had removed his helmet now and turned to her.

_Try to stay out of trouble. This place may be fire but you might awake an inferno. I will return with my sisters and their paladins._

He nodded and rested his forehead on her warm metal. "I don't think I have the strength to cause trouble anyway." He stepped back to the High Djinns and watched Red walk away until she was at a safe distance to take off. The High Djinn rested a hand on Keith's shoulder having sensed the wound on the right.

_"Come, rest is needed and your shoulder has worsen. We will speak later."_

**000**

With hanging head Red returned to Black's hanger and as the exit closed the smaller lion walked towards her larger sister whom sat on her hunches again, like none of this had happened and that they weren't one paladin down.

_You are in time. Morning cycle has not begun. It went well?_

_They still wandered. How did Green know of them?_

_About now? What does she not know with a Paladin like hers?_

_Grr- I hate it when you grow smug. Ticks thou they are._

_Return before the Advisor begins his rounds._

Black jerked her head towards Red's hanger and Red moved towards it when Black stopped her again.

_Is the bayard-_

_Slotted and ready to be discovered. Your paladin?_

_Unaware what awaits him, yet I fear it will be to much for him. Your paladin is what keeps him stable._

**000**

Morning cycle began and one by one they arrived to the breakfast. Pidge with her laptop and Hunk after he had set out plates with food stood looking over her shoulder and Shiro glancing at the screen a few times. Once Pidge had lifted his metal arm and run her hands over it like she was looking for hidden panels he understood what it was about and moved it out of the way warning her that a safety might go off and hurt her.

Lance was trying to keep his food safe from the mice and Allura looked up from her datapad laughing and snagged from his plate to give it to Platt, the larger mouse shook its head and gave it to Chulatt whom happily munched it and Lance gave the Princess a look of betrayal.

The ritual was the same every morning but today Coran came running before the doors were really open and grabbed the front of a standing Shiro's vest. "KEITH IS GONE! I've scanned the ship and there's no sign of him! No pods are missing, the air locks haven't been used, the bayard was slotted in the Red Lion and I found this first of everything!" He let go of Shiro who slumped in the chair Lance and Allura had placed behind him and Coran placed both items on the table, the red bayard that never left Keith's hands most times and a small device the humans did not recognize.

Moving it so they could see how it worked Allura brought up a small hologram Keith looking pale and worse for wear, the little they could see of his under suit was darker on the right shoulder.

_"By finding this you have discovered I'm no longer on board the Castle and you have found out about my Hybrid status. During the Trails of Marmora I found out that I'm part human and part Galra. Shiro may have kept quiet about it to protect me but I know it will come to light at some point so it's best to tell you know."_

The knife was held up, wrapping gone. _"This mark has always made me wonder what it meant and I've always wanted to know more about my past. Why my parents abandoned me and why the knife was given to me. What little I remember about that is that my mother disappeared first and during the trial I had a vision of my father telling me the knife was given to him by my mother, and he passed it to me."_

Keith closed his eyes and took a shaky breath.

_"To find I'm part Galra is not an easy thing to digest and I decided to leave before you stuff me in a pod and book me off the ship. I know Allura isn't that fond of Galra."_

Allura stepped back slowly until she too collapsed in a chair Coran put behind her and the mice gathered in her shoulders. Shiro's face was in his palms and it sounded like he was having a flashback, panic attack and seizure all in one go. The Garrison Trio gaping at the holo-Keith with mixed shock, anger and _'what the bloody quiznak was he rambling about?!'._

_"So I left. The red bayard in Red for the next Paladin to pilot her. I'm sorry to drop this on you from a recorded message but it was better to do it the coward way then face you all."_

The holo-Keith flickered and disappeared, the device returning to dormant state and leaving the room silent save for Shiro trying to breath and the mice squeaking for Allura's attention. Lance sank into another chair staring into nothing and Hunk had long ago sat on the floor, Pidge stood looking at the device with tears in her dull eyes with a look that screamed she was about to either explode or she was possessed and about to lash out.

A gentle growl passed through their minds and Shiro's head rose up so it had to be Black.

_He fear rejection. If you truly care about him, then think only about what you love about him. We lions do not care about blood. Your hearts and devotion have proven you are our Paladins._

"...Why didn't you tell me he was leaving?"

_What could have been said?_

Shiro blinked before he saw Hunk look up so it must be Yellow speaking this time. They had no idea the lions could speak to them all at once.

_You of all should know his fear. To know he was part of a race that caused so much pain for you, they destroyed Altea, took your arm and one Earth year from you and the Green Paladin's family. What else could he think?_

"But it wasn't his fault!" Pidge screamed. "He didn't do any of that!"

_We tried to tell him that. Black tried to talk him out of it but in the end she let him go, Red has been moody since then._

_My paladin feared his new found family was going to throw him out like rotten meat! Like all those horrible humans did before! They have done it his whole life! Of course I am about to lose it Blue!_

_Yet you did not say other wise._

_Green, sisters or not. Do. NOT. test me right now._

Hunk stood up then. "Okay let's all cool down before we have a mechanical cat fight in the hangers and I mean how can we prove Keith is Galran even?!"

Lance tacked down on his fingers. "He was able to use Galran tech to close the bay doors in the hanger on the Balmera, his eyes are purple, I had Pidge hack his helmet once and we saw him fight a Druid and Keith's right hand got hurt and the skin was purple, Zarkon of all people pointed out Keith fought like a Galran soldier, Keith has a sort fuse and his knife could only 'wake up' if he was Galra or part Galra." In the end Lance was holding up 6 fingers and Hunk was scrubbing his face.

"Okay so we have 6 things that could point out Keith is possibly Galran. Has he ever used a cryo pod?"

"No he hasn't now that you mention it. The only ones who has after an injury is Lance and Shiro." Coran pinched his mustache in thought and let it go. "But enough about that we have to find out where he is!" He bolted for the bridge.

_Until it has been accepted. We will not reveal the location of_ _Red's cub.  
_

Shiro shot to his feet at that. "Black you can't withhold that! Tell me where Keith is! Galra or not I don't care I have to know where he is!"

_Until it has been accepted._

Shiro's eyes widen a bit and then he ran out of the dining room to go destroy some gladiators. Allura was the one hiding her face in her hands now and the mice tried to comport her. Pidge ran to her lab but just where she usually has her laptop is a small green button with outer silver ring and she collapses in tears holding it.

The tracker.

Keith had found her tracker. He made sure to not be found and with the lions against them right now who knows how long it took before she got one of her brother figures back?

* * *

On the fire planet Keith had been changed out of his Paladin armor, his bruises and shoulder wound tended and had been dressed in soft black pants, boots and red long-sleeved tunic with gold embroidered flame decor. He wandered the fields and studied the flora around him and once he found a flower that must be a fire lily like on Earth. There was actually water there too and the pools with lava did not harm him like he thought.

One of the High Djinns approached and slowly the morning was spent learning about his bonded element and how it could be used to his advantage. Since his bayard was on the Castle of Lions a replica was conjured and a spell was put on his wound to allow him a short sparing match, Keith could even control the lava to move from a full pool to an empty one and adjust how the much lava was to be in the empty one.

Shiro had showed some Japanese meditation tricks, after the others had stopped gushing on why Shiro was so good at everything, and Allura shared some Altean meditation. Keith was told to clear his mind and before him in a fire pit was a pile of logs.

_"It may be to early to try. But light the logs by visualizing a flame in the pit and make it slowly grow larger, then you must try and put it out."_

Keith closed his eyes and behind his eyes lids he could see the fire pit and a small candle like flame appeared just above it. Slowly it lowered to the pit and to a log to light it, bark slowly caught fire and once the logs were lit in different places Keith's flame was move up to allowed the logs to catch fire and though slow the fire pit was soon ablaze.

_"Good, you were patient with the flame and chose careful spots to light. Now put them out."_

Taking a deep breath Keith focused on the center and how a small vortex appeared moving from the center to the edges. He had to go slow here as well and once the fire was out he waiting for the Djinns to speak. A hand landed on his shoulder and he opened his eyes to see the fire pit and logs, all burned and put out.

 _"Mother chose well. You have a good bond with the fire. Yet the flame within you is like this one."_ It gestured to an orb on a flat stone and how it glowed a faint red like it had just been picked from a lava river, formed and left to cool. The Djinn by it was holding a similar orb, this one burning staidly and bright.

 _"This what it should be."_ They told him and Keith rose to study them better, his hands risen to hover close to them. His right was warm and far from the flaming orb and his left was closer but not yet touching. He lowered his hands and looked up at the Djinn. "Is this what Red and the other Lions was talking about?" It nodded and the orbs were returned to the lava and Keith was brought to his alcove. The mountain was full of life with aliens recovering from injuries like Keith and young ones sitting in groups listening to Djinns. Many turned to look at Keith as he passed and he shrugged it off since the chest of his tunic had a golden outline of the Voltron V that adores his Paladin armor.

A tray was brought to him with food and herbalists checked his shoulder once the spell from the sparing was removed. Once he had eaten and sat looking out the window his eyes shifted to the two small planets above them, the moons of the planet.

_-Red?-_

_Cub!_

_-I learning about our element. Good news I did not inferno anything. Object or myself.-_

_Good... And Black apologizes for thinking other wise._

_-Rude!-_

_She ensures to be less doubting about it from now on. The other cubs know of your departure._

_-Shiro?-_

_What do you think? He has yet to leave the training deck and has thus far destroyed all Gladiators. He is out of control and cannot find foundation, Black got overwhelmed by his emotions for you. And had to dampen their bond. We do not think he has notice. Green informed me you found her Paladin's tracker._

_-And the princess?-_

Red scuffed in slight annoyance.

_She has yet to speak to anyone. She has been in her room mostly with the mice. Paladins Yellow and Blue have been in half panic and brood states, the Green paladin tried to get inside me once to get your whereabouts but I had to bring up the force field. Such words from a small cub. We were stunned._

_-Pidge? Foul mouthed?! You have got to show me that memory later! I bet if Shiro heard her he would flip and blame Lance and Coran.-_

_Keith. As amusing as it sounds they are in pain. They need you badly. Shiro needs you, if this is how he act with you just being out of reach because of us I shudder to think what you actually missing or dead would do to him. To us all._

_Red. Do not speak like that. My paladin may be out of control right now but we will not let it come to pass._

_-Black?! Wait- How close are you?-_

_The advisor had the ship turned around once your departure was known. Faint as it may be the bond you share with my paladin is strong enough._

_-H-How is Shiro?-_

Black was quiet and all the warning Keith had was Red telling him to brace himself before a solid punch hit him in the chest and he almost feel on the floor out of breath and his mind screaming with random words. His body ached and images of a glowing hand and Gladiators hitting the floor.

**_*I should have talked to him!*_ **

**_*I shouldn't have left him alone! I swore to take care of him! Be there for him!*_ **

**_*He's gone because I was a blind idiot!*_ **

Keith felt the assault fade and spent a few minuets taking deep breaths and placed his hand on his heaving chest.

_Bit of warning next time Black? I could almost feel how that nearly punched my cub out of his own body._

_He wanted to know. Best way to do it was to let him know the full version of what his little escaped is causing my paladin and- The princess is here. She is calling everyone to my hanger. Lions and Paladins._

Keith felt their presence dull in his mind and he laid down on the bed to let his breath fully return.

Black sure could be brutal about something when it came to Shiro. Keith was glad she was on their side or they would be in quite the trouble.


	5. We need you Keith II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My view on S2E8 - Blade of Marmora aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> italic - Lions speak
> 
> "italic" - Djinns speak.
> 
> -Italic- - Keith's mind link with Red later in the chapter.

**~Chapter 5 - We need you Keith II~  
**

Allura stood before the Black Lion with her hands clasped before her and head bowed. "I have given it some thought and I am willing to accept the knowledge that Keith is a Hybrid and part of this family. May we know where you have brought him?" She lifted her head as the Black Lion lit up and the other lions around them stood on all four from their hunched poses. The Paladins were in their armor watching them nervously.

Black studied the Altean princess some more before looking at Green on her left.

_Bring up the star maps._

Green's eyes shone brighter and a star map like the one usually viewed from the Bridge appeared and moved until stopping and the target icon stopping on a red planet with two moons. Coran set the coordinates and looked at the view screen. "Wait a tick, we just passed those! Hang while I bring the ship around."

They felt the ship tilt in its turn and then Black's exit opened. "Red planet dead ahead! Hopefully with our missing Red Paladin as well!" Lance called as Allura landed the ship on the outskirts of the village and the Lions flew out and landed, Red before them all by the Fire Djinns.

_"Mother of Fire. You have returned."_

_The princess and Voltron Paladins have accepted my cub. Where is he?_

The Djinn gestured east. _"He wished solitude away from us. We granted it."  
_

Red nodded and turned to look at her sisters and gestured with her head for them to follow her. The Lions lifted and slowly moved east to a water river and by the banks of it was a lone figure. Shiro brought a screen up and zeroed in on the figure almost holding his breath as it turned to them when the lions landed.

He was the first out of his lion and Jetpacked over to Keith, grabbing him mid flight and taking the brunt of the fall hugging him. "Don't ever. ever. EVER do that to me again Keith! I thought I was going to lose the last stands of my sanity finding out you were gone!" He whispered shakily into Keith's ear before moving him to hold his head. Keith still had a bruise or two on his face but he smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry- I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving. I didn't mean to hurt you so badly Shiro... I didn't mean to." Keith was pulled back into Shiro's chest and they clung to each other until Keith felt a smaller hand land on his shoulder, which ached a bit after the rough landing. Pidge had removed her helmet and glasses looking at him and when words refused to obey she hugged him just as tight as Shiro but she wouldn't snap him like a twig like Shiro most likely could. Lance and Hunk joined the hug feast rambling all sorts of things and then they just set to crying in relief.

Pidge got her arms free enough to free Shiro from his helmet and he buried his tear soaked face in Keith's hair. Keith smiled sadly at her and moved so that she was squished between the two elder paladins and she did not object to it and with her glasses not on her nose she buried her face into Keith's chest as much as she dared.

It took a growled from the Black lion and two comm pings from Coran to separate them and return to the village so Keith could collect his bag and change to his armor. His Djinn clothes were given as a gift for any fancy occasion and similar ones were given to the others in their signature color and/or gold or silver broidered decor. The paladins thanked them for caring for their Red paladin and they boarded their lions with a view screen to Keith's cockpit on.

"Are you giving the princess first dibs on the scolding or is Shiro?"

"Both."

"You are in sooo much trouble Mullet! What the hell were you thinking?! Do you know how scary it was to see Shiro snap like that?!"

"I didn't-"

"You destroyed the training desk! It'll take Coran, Hunk and I days to fix it!" Pidge pointed at the screen with Shiro who glanced away muttering sorry. Keith rubbed his neck and moved his right shoulder wrong. "Oh and you are getting inside a healing pod when we get back! How could you leave that untended? You'll probably have a scar there now."

"Hey it could have been worse! We could be having two cyber right armed paladins! You and Pidge could probably throw together a whole new arm for Kei-"

"Save that for Shiro once he gets tired of the Galra one or it shuts down on him." Keith interrupted Lance. "What?" He asked when Lance's jaw had hung open for more then ten seconds. Pidge seemed to catch on and later Hunk with a glee. Keith looked at Shiro's screen. "Uuuh what did I say and what are they thinking?"

All Shiro could do was shrug.

_They have a point._

_-What are you talking about Red?-_

_You are Voltron's right arm. And you are part Galra. And who's arm is Galran?_

Keith blinked in confusion before his eyes shifted to Shiro- And his right arm...

"...I'm not going to teach Pidge more foul words." He declared with a smirk and everyone looked at Pidge who fled behind the pilot seat. "Pidge?" Shiro asked and froze. Keith guessed Black was telling him what Pidge has said. "You said what to Red?!"

"She shut me out when I tried to find out Keith's location! Could I help I lost it?!" Came the reply from behind the pilot chair and had to dive back into it when they neared the Castle and brought the lions to their hangers, Keith barely out of Red when Shiro once again jetpacked in but this time he landed before pulling Keith into his arms. "Shiro-"

"Don't. I'm not leaving you out of my sight again."

Keith looked over and found Coran and Allura waiting for them and Shiro tighten his arms before letting Keith go but stood close behind him as the Alteans stopped before them. "Keith. As irresponsible as your actions were- they were understandable and I have to admit I was not prepared for this revelation, to find that you were a hybrid and the second part is that of the race we are trying the free the universe from. I may have told the lions that I accept this to get them to bring you back frankly it will take much longer for me to come to terms with it."

"And with that off to the cryo-pods young man." Coran clasped his hands behind his back giving Keith a pointed glare. "We need to adjust them to your signature anyway and with you here it can now be done. Shiro has offered to teach me a heritage trick should you try slip away."

Keith glared at Shiro. "Sadly he's recovered enough to remember all that."

"And don't think you'll escape them just because we've know each other the longest."

With that and less fuss Keith followed to the pod room and changed into the white cryo suit. Shiro stood before the pod when it closed watched his friend close his eyes and a beep was heard. "There. It's set to release him in 2 varga. You don't have to wait in here for it."

"I need to. I have to see that he's safe and right here. Thinking the opposite all day has been draining me."

"At least let me send the others for those bean bags and a tablet. The floor isn't exactly comfortable and the tablet may have something to distract you from those unpleasant thoughts." Shiro nodded and soon both items were brought in and Hunk left a tray of various snacks before they left the pre-Garrison Duo alone.

He spent most time watching Keith then staring at the tablet and more then once he got up to pace around and then looked at his arm.

_-What are you talking about Red?-_

_You are Voltron's right arm. And you are part Galra. And who's arm is Galran?_

Shiro used his left hand to wiped the tears and pinch the bridge of his nose and looked at Keith, walking over and rested his hands and his forehead to the glass, Galran hand just by their chests. "You're not alone Keith. We're both part Galran..."


	6. Bulls Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith overworks at the training deck and the team doesn't like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 chapters in 2 days. Granted they are already up on FF.net so what i do here is go over misspellings and tweaking it a little bit.

**~Chapter 6 - Bulls Eye ~  
**

Thanks to Pidge's color coding idea made it easier to book the training deck for alone time training. If single color, like red which was most of the time, or duo color they knew who would have the training room. Right now as Lance checked it the color code was a blue and yellow combo and it said _Target Practice - Non-Moving Targets._

Lance grabbed Hunk and after they had changed to training clothes (they didn't really need the armor unless it was _Moving Target Practice_ ) pulled him to the training deck where Keith was finishing up his solo training, slicing through Gladiators with his bayard in a speed they had to look twice where he was and where he was next. "Keith's pretty dangerous."

"Yeah and yet he looks like he hasn't eaten much in a year." Lance ran his thumb over his deactivated bayard and noticed Hunk had frozen. "You okay there buddy?" Lance looked at Keith again and back at Hunk.

"Uuh... Just let me find Shiro? Try to talk Keith out of his slicing trance?"

Lance blinked in confusion when Hunk bolted and Keith still hadn't noticed them, or he had and was plain ignoring them. Lance counted the ticks in his head and by 15 the door opened again and Hunk walked backwards talking to a understandably worried looking Shiro. "-And if he hasn't eaten well in that year then he really shouldn't be going this hard right?"

"Not if he wants to drop and we have to stuff him in a pod." Shiro replied and watched Keith for a minute. Lance rubbed the back of his neck before looking at Shiro. "How long has he been going anyway? I know I looked at the chart for the training deck but it was for us, I didn't really look how long Keith had been in here."

Shiro looked even more concerned and brought out the chart. "Keith's been in here for-"

Hunk's eyes widen. "Four hours going on his fifth!"

"End training sequence!" Lance and Hunk jumped away from Shiro who bellowed upwards and the Gladiators dropped around Keith, who blinked confused standing on one leg mid sword swipe. He finally straighten and yelped when he was dragged by the back of his shirt. From the low muttered Japanese words he knew it was Shiro and hoo was he screwed.

Lance and Hunk watched lips pressed as Shiro dragged Keith out and the door shut. "Sooo how certain can we be that Keith will be alive when we are done in here?"

"We'll know when Pidge come to get us or Keith howls." Lance activated his bayard and aimed it. "Let's start training." Once Hunk had his bayard to cannon form Lance called out for Non-Moving targets and they started blasting. It wasn't really a sweaty session mostly picking for targets at different distances: items, gladiators holding something, fire something till they broke.

Pidge joined them at one time with her computer and Lance decided to take a break. "Keith dead yet?"

"...What?" She looked up from the screen which in normal cases were impossible. Hunk nodded deactivating his bayard. "Yeah we found him in here going on his fifth hour and while Lance stayed here I went to get Shiro who dragged him out." Lance shrugged as his bayard deactivated too. "I mean it wasn't that hard to drag Mullet out of here but Shiro almost burst a vocal cord calling off the sequence."

Pidge tilted her head at him. "Can you blame him? This is the third day in a row Keith's been in here but is normally for 2 hours. Five was probably what made Shiro lose it."

Her fellow paladins looked at each other in confusion before going back to their training. Letting Shiro deal with the stubborn Red Paladin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith is the embodiment of Stubborn and I think we can all agree.


	7. Reunion: Pre-K Trio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-Kerberos Trio: Shiro, Matt and Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these 3 are my fav dorks!!
> 
> **Also this whole thing was started on Jan 3rd 2018 so I had just started watching Voltron like November 2017, it was a little after S4 had come out. So I picked up bits and pieces of Shiro's odd behavior and thought "Are you a clone?" (fan theories later helped me confirm it)**

**~Chapter 7 - Reunion: Pre-K Trio ~  
**

Keith had just finished another blade mission when he was told to meet team Voltron on planet Olkarion and he nodded when the Blade Pilot looked at him over her shoulder, she nodded back and adjusted course. There had been times when this happen but Keith would shake his head and the pilot would turn forward again keeping course. Now it had been a long time and Keith missed seeing Voltron.

The ship landed and Keith told them not to wait for him and they took off. Keith didn't see anyone around but he did speak to an Olkari who showed him on a datapad how things had changed and how many more buildings had appeared, bringing the former Red Paladin up to speed. Keith nodded and asked questions when they heard a lion roar and the Green Lion zoomed overhead.

"Ah, The Green one returns. I hope her search was successful." The Olkari said and Keith nodded his leave and stood not to far from the group as they joined up. Keith could barely breath as Pidge introduced Matt to the others and how he was casual until he saw Shiro, understandably shocked that his friend was-

Wait what?

Keith took notice that the Paladin armor was a little dented and dirty, and Shiro had undercut... Lance stood between them talking and then Matt's jaw fall and Shiro's head wiped to look at Lance. "A what of me?!" Keith had stepped a little closer to hear them and jumped up so he was above them but still out of sight.

"A clone man. We had no idea until Coran and Pidge pointed out things that were odd. It was the mice who really dropped the bomb thou." Lance bent down to pick the small heroes up. "The clone's galra arm was a bomb meant to take everyone out but we managed to stop it and- heh- Hunk and I had to blast the thing to death before he could tear Pidge's head off."

Why did all the fun stuff have to happen when he was away? Keith wondered as he walked over and Matt turned to face him his eyes going wide and looking ready to faint. "Keith?" Everyone turned to find their Red Paladin stopping with a similar shocked look on his face.

"You didn't get your ass kicked."

Shiro snorted hiding his grin and Matt slumped with a groan. "Oh yeah you are so Keith Kogane! The same smug bastard that we almost gave up Kerberos mission for!" Keith tensed to not topple over when Matt barreled into him hugging, Shiro joined them and they all three had their arms around each other.

"Maybe Sam should count himself lucky he's as far away he can be right now. The three of us would likely blow up a planet." Keith mumbled and Matt laughed with a nod and Shiro huffed. He could deal with the updates later after he had his long needed reunion with his two best friends.


	8. Shared Pain I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S2E13 - Blackout where Keith was the one who disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S2E13 - Blackout
> 
> AU where Keith is the one who goes missing from Red's cockpit instead of Shiro going missing. (again)
> 
> keep in mind i'm terrible at action scenes xD

**~Chapter 8 - Shared Pain I~  
**

"I've got Zarkon's bayard." Shiro said in awe as it changed shape in his hand.

_"You mean you got your bayard."_

Shiro smiled then, always wondering what he had done to deserve Keith and how the Red paladin was so insistent that Shiro was the only Black Paladin. "We only got a few minuets left before power returns to Zarkon's ship!" The bayard left his hand and into his thigh holster.

"Form Voltron!"

Combined into one they charged at Zarkon who deflected their attacks several times. After speaking to Coran Shiro ordered they finish this and they all threw their control sticks forward charging ahead towards Zarkon with the sword ready, they got a hit with the sword embedded in Zarkon's midsection when he suddenly reached out and grabbed Red's head and black-purleish sparks shot out.

Keith felt them course through him and he cracked an eye open in time to see the sword blaze up in fire.

_"Awesome! Was that you Shiro?!"_ Lance gasped in awe.

_"So the bayards can be combined?!"_

_"Like we needed another reason you two were soul mates?!"_ Pidge joked.

Keith smiled and grunted when another wave of lightning shot through him and Red screamed in his mind as he shifted the handle, drove the sword back and struck Zarkon. After that he didn't know anything else.

**000**

As the sword tore through Zarkon like he was a piece of fruit Black felt the pain Red and her paladin were in and without a second thought, through the lightning that had them immobilized she sent the Red paladin away to safety just as the explosion happened and split them apart into Lions again. They all drifted until the Lions up-righted themselves and the paladins groaned. "Did we do it?" Lance asked as he tried getting his bearings right and looked up seeing Zarkon drift with a sizeable hole through him.

"Is it over?" Hunk asked a second later when the Castle arrived.

_"I have Allura and Kolivan. We need to go."_

They all set for the Castle when Pidge looked out her window seeing Red still offline and drifting. "Keith and Red! We have to toe them back onto the ship!"

_"I got them Pidge, you get inside."_ Shiro popped up on her screen and she saw Black zoom past grabbing the still unmoving lion and joined them. Pidge informed Allura they were all on board and they escaped through the wormhole. Once safe from the Galra Shiro ran to the Red Lion laying in Black's hanger and skidded to a stop with a gasp.

There wasn't a trace on the red color on the lion...

She was completely gray.

Eyes black and offline

"Keith..." Shiro whispered as his heart rate speed up in fear. "Keith!" Shiro and the others ran towards the flank laying lion and Shiro had to power up his hand to get through the roof hatch and slip down, it then took him, Hunk and Allura to pry the cockpit doors open enough for them to slip through.

"Keith?" Allura called as Shiro moved towards the chair and found the Red Bayard still in its socket but no sign of Keith. The normally red lit and warm feeling cockpit was black and dead.

"He's gone..." Lance said in disbelief staring at the pilot chair.

**000**

Shiro watched the scanners intensely has he guided Black through the battle field once the Galra main ship was gone from the area, thou he had been there for vargas there was no sign of Keith. Shiro was lost in thought trying to pin-point when Keith could have disappeared but it only made his chest ache, his throat close up and his eyes burn. Gasping a shaky breath he opened a channel to Coran.

"There's nothing out here Coran..."

_"I'm sorry Shiro. I know how badly you want to find him."_

"...Is this what he felt when I vanished?"

_"I wouldn't know I'm afraid."_

With his heart now a lump of lead Shiro piloted the Black Lion back to the ship and headed for the Red Lion's hanger. She was still gray, still in the side slumped position and non-responding.

Black couldn't even feel her sister.

None of the lions could.

Shiro found Pidge in the pilot chair holding another photo Shiro hadn't seen before. He knew of the one with her and Matt before she cut her hair and became Pidge Gunderson but this picture was new to him. In it was Pidge with her still long hair, hugging the arm of a newly graduated Keith in the green instructor uniform. Shiro felt it hard to breath even when he was out of the armor.

"He mentored the three of us you know." Pidge spoke up quietly from her curled up position as Shiro crouched beside the chair, she looked so much smaller in it. "I had a hard time understanding the flying and Keith didn't understand the rest, so it was kind of fitting to help each other. Back then Lance and Keith didn't argue as much and Lance was kind of a nerve wreak around him and when in the SIM. That may have been the only times he didn't crash it."

Shiro nodded as he looked at the photo to see Pidge with the hand she was holding the photos with shift out another and aimed towards him. This one with just Keith in his red jacket and sharpening his knife looking into the camera so it much have been one of Pidge's stealth and then 'say cheese' moments. Keith was smiling slightly in the picture as if she had succeeded in sneaking up on him.

"We'll find him? Right?"

Pidge sounded choked up as Shiro placed the photo in a belt pouch and rose to lift her in his arms and sat down in the seat holding her to his chest. "I hope so Katie. We'll look for him whenever we can. Solo, in pair or all of us when we aren't saving planets and fighting Galra... We'll find him, Matt and Sam."

Feeling their lions prod in their minds for comfort they sat there for a long time in the dark.

**000**

Coran was looking through the old files of the Lions creation to see if it said anything about an offline lion and how to power it back up when Allura entered. "Without the Red lion we cannot form Voltron at all."

"Had it been only Keith disappearing and the Red lion functional a new paladin would have been easy to find but as our dear humans say, the universe just love to quiznak with us"

"Coran!"

"Go blame Lance. Those were his words. Although he used another word that had Shiro deck him because Pidge was in the room. I had to ask him later what it meant." Coran focused on his screen and then turned it off. "Nothing. I've tried to find a similar event but there's nothing in here." He ran a hand over his face and sighed.

Allura placed her hand on his shoulder and sighed. "How is Shiro while we're on the subject?"

"Torn between being leader for the paladins and spend hours searching the battle field. He returned not long ago and entered the Red lion, Pidge was already in there last I checked." Allura nodded and went to find them, her heart twisting seeing her father's former lion in its current state.

"Shiro?" She called quietly once she had entered through the roof hatch. The mouth entrance was a no go without power. She found him sitting in the pilot chair with Pidge leaning on his shoulder and him holding the Red bayard, he hadn't heard her and only looked up when one of the mice ran up his leg getting his attention before pointing at Allura.

"Princess. I didn't hear you."

"It's understandable. Perhaps bringing Pidge to her room for a more comfortable rest? You've been in here for a long time."

Shiro was quiet before nodding and they exited the Red lion and couldn't bare to look at her as they left the hanger. Allura took the bayard with her and Shiro brought Pidge to her room.

**000**

Lance had been blasting everything in the training deck and then took off in Blue to vent on some asteroids. Blue happily went blasting and tearing everything thinking of her offline sister and then just drifted.

_Is this what a bittersweet victory is?_

"The full package of it. Never thought I'd have to experience it myself." He replied and looked out the window and his throat closed when he saw the red colors among the stars.

_This never happened before with the Old Paladins. We can not even sense Red._

"Well we are not giving up looking!"

_Look where? We have all gone through the battle time and time again trying to point when Red went offline and her paladin vanished._

Lance sighed as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes only to be assaulted with images of Keith and the rare times they weren't fighting. When they found him Lance was going to dial down the fights.

_"Hey Lance. Mind if_ _Yellow_ _and I join you in destroying harmless asteroids?"_ Hunk appeared on the screen looking sad and Lance nodded. "Could use the company right now. You holding up?" Lance took it as a 'no' when Hunk's eyes filled with tears the second after.

_"No I'm not okay! We finally defeated Zarkon, was going to free the galaxy of his rule and go back home as a family and now Keith is gone and Red is dead and-"_

"Wait whoa back up!" Lance whipped into motion. "What do you mean Red is dead?!"

_"Well Blue can't feel her either right?! Yellow has been a mess since the battle! And not to mention Shiro! I've seen him sneak out every night looking for Keith!"_ Hunk wiped his eyes and Yellow let out a sad purr that had Blue move forward and nuzzle her sister.

Lance leaned back again fighting the tears.

_*Damn it Mullet Head.*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -still learning the site-


	9. Shared Pain II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge finds Matt and Shiro tags along. (Yes i cried the first time i watched the graveyard scene in S4E2 - Reunion)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Yes i cried the first time i watched the graveyard scene in S4E2 - Reunion)

**~Chapter 9 - Shared Pain II~**

_"Pidge there's isn't much I can do here and I don't like the idea of you going alone- You sure you don't want help?"_

"I'm sure Shiro. Plus it might be a good distraction." Pidge removed her glasses to put on her helmet as Green left Olkarion. Shiro sighed and leaned back in his seat on the bridge.

_"Not so sure about that. Since the fight little has managed to distract me and Allura pointed out again today that I've tuned out of every conversation."_

"Unless Keith is mentioned."

_"Ugh! See?!" Shiro ran mismatched hands over his face and through his hair and undercut. "All I have swirling around my head is Keith disappearing and something sucking Red's life force right out of her! And we have no idea where either are!"  
_

"Wait what did you say?" Pidge looked away from her scanner and even Green sharpened her hearing.

_"The lions are more then you think Pidge. There's an astral plane they go to when not needed and interact with each other there, Blue been searching it for Red but there's no trace of her so-"_

"You think Red's life force might have stuck to Keith? Wait, how many times has she saved him?"

_"Four is what Coran and I managed to count. When we retrieved Red, then when Keith and Allura left, and when he left yellow to jetpack to Red's hanger when that Balmera Robeast reactivated."_ Shiro counted on his human fingers then looked over the screen to where Coran presumably was standing. _"The Blade of Marmora? Oh yeah Red lost it completely when Keith collapsed after the trials."_

Pidge made a sound that had Green send a questioning nudge and Shiro blinked at her. _"Did you just growl like the-"_

"Make a cub joke and I'll hack your arm to punch yourself." She glared harder as he rose his hands in a 'don't shoot' pose but his grin just spread and Coran was cackling in the back (or front). _"Okay okay no jokes. But let me know if you need help and I'll be there with Black."_

"Shiro you're leaning towards the Space Dad crap Lance wouldn't stop talking about."

_"I'm 10 years older then you and highest rank next to Allura. Excuse me for feeling responsible and twice the nerve wreak as I've already lost one team member. Actually make that another team member if we count the Kerberos crew."_

Shiro looked over his shoulder at someone Pidge couldn't see and turned back. _"I have to go Pidge. Keep me posted."_ The feed closed and Pidge curled into a ball taking out her photos of her and Matt and the one of Keith she had taken while he was sharpening his knife. "I'll find you both. The order doesn't really matter right now."

**000**

After a 3 second (on the dot) scuffle Pidge closed her screen after getting the Intel she wanted from the arms dealer who sold the nano-thermite titanium-boron that the rebels who rescued Matt used and left him with all four arms tied up on his desk and returned to Green.

As they left the planet Pidge got a positive match on Te-osh who's last whereabouts were on Kraydah's moon. Once arriving Pidge dove into the Galra attack and thinned them out for a short moment, enough to speak with Lieutenant Ozar about Te-osh.

"I'm Pidge. What's going on?"

"We defeated a wave of Galra forces. More are coming so we're evacuating." He gestured to the ships being loaded not to far from them. "Now that you are here we might stand a change. Will the other lions be here soon?"

"No, Voltron isn't coming. I'm looking for Te-osh. Is she here?"

Ozar turned to point at the base behind him with a rebel ship on top. "Te-osh is inside the base loading up the last of the medical supplies. We were just about to leave so your timing is most fortunate." Pidge smiled knowing she was one step closer to finding her brother...

Well one of her missing older brothers.

"Thank you. I'll give you a hand loading up I just need to speak with her first."

Ozar thanked her but merely seconds later the Galra were back and the ship Pidge had been running towards took off. The debris knocked Pidge backwards as more fliers fired at them. Pidge managed to get into Green's mouth whose head was jolted back when the mizzles hit her muzzle and Pidge felt a touch of Keith surge through her.

"You are really, really going to regret that!" She hissed as she entered the fray to get rid of the fliers and one shot hit the ships leaving the rebels stranded. Pidge ordered them to board the Green Lion and set off to help Te-osh, destroying the two fliers that were attacking and entered the ship.

Te-osh was slumped in the pilot seat with a hand over her ribs as Pidge checked on her. "Oh, no. Are you okay?" She helped Te-osh out of the chair and scanned the area to find two cracked ribs that were limiting the time they had. Te-osh eyes opened just enough to see Pidge and confuse her with Matt. "He's my brother. I'm trying to find him."

"You look so much like him. It's the eyes." Te-osh coughed as she handed a transponder to Pidge, explaining that every rebel officer carried one of them to find each other. Matt may not have his anymore but the code was still available.

**000**

Pidge toed the supply ship to it's rendezvous point and Ozar thanked her, sharing his transponder code with her for when Voltron would need their help. Green let go of the line and set off towards the location the transponder led them. Pidge sat in her seat looking at Matt's picture and got lost down memory lane about Matt teaching her about the two-step encryption.

She noticed how the signal got stronger and felt chills through her veins as she headed towards the destroyed planet yet the signal told her Matt was there somewhere. She looked at it in confusion as they neared a structure with a large tablet.

Letting the translation program scan the text Pidge felt a sledgehammer strike her in the gut.

_In honor of the 127,098 brave warriors that stood against tyranny. The quest for freedom is won through sacrifice._

Eyes going wide is disbelief Pidge ran through the monument with statues of the races that flanked both sides of the tablet. "No! Please, no!" In her dormant state Green watched in sadness as her paladin ran, she too was hoping this wasn't real.

_Sister._

_B-Black?! How- Wait how are you near?_

_I am right behind you._

Zooming past Green was a white and black streak heading after her paladin and Green felt like this was the end.

_Did you follow?!_

_He could not stay behind longer. The stress was tearing him. What have you discovered?_

Shiro followed Pidge and froze seeing the mile long rows of grave poles and he could see Pidge running towards one and went after her. Pidge turned as he landed and held his hands up. "Just me. Sorry I didn't listen. Why are we here?" Holding out the transponder Pidge filled in on everything when realizing she had utterly forgotten to update him via video feed and when she was done Shiro looked around. "And he could be here somewhere?"

"That's what I hope he's not!" Pidge looked at the transponder and turned around. "The arrow points this way!"

Both started running through the path and they each had a dear memory of Matt flashing before them, for Shiro it was the moments he shared with Matt and Keith. How often he had to hold them in choke holds telling them to knock it off, how they would all three rough house until they just lay tangled limbs laughing, the times they studied and Keith would faceplant into the book, Matt saying that slamming the words into his head wouldn't work and how they would be on the Garrison roof at night watching the stars.

Pidge remembered her own dear times of Matt and before them both was a vision of Matt in the white-orange cadet uniform turning...

Breathing heavily they stopped before a stone and Pidge fell on her knees and Shiro seemed to have shut down completely. He could hear the translation through his own helmet as it appeared for him as well.

_Matthew Holt. 0-0-1-0-0-5..._

Pidge was on all four crying out that she was sorry and that she was to late, half conscious that Shiro wrapped his arms around her as the skies opened up and the rain poured. Clinging to Shiro Pidge howled her grief as he muttered his own mantra to both his friends as he held the young girl and started to rock them both.

"...His birthday is wrong..."

Shiro barely caught that and uncurled around her. "What about it?"

"His birthday is wrong." Pidge repeated looking at the grave and Shiro looked as well before something clicked, something he had heard long ago. "A quantum frequency? Matt told Keith about it but we didn't ask anymore what it meant. We thought it was something you Holt's wanted private."

Pidge stood up with a unshaken legs. "It's... It's a message! The code!" Shiro stood up as she grasped her head. "But what was the second encryption item again?"

"Something about having the same book and math? That's about what I can recall right now. Jumbled memories and all." Shiro shrugged but Pidge's head snapped up to look at him. "Yes the book!" She brought out a small datapad and started tapping it. "Additions and subtractions-" Shiro merely watched her forefinger fly over the small screen until four sets of double digits with a dot separating them appeared and something like a super nova went off inside their chests.

"These are coordinates! He's alive"

"Well he has a grave stone ready so he won't be that much longer _after_ I've dealt with him!" Shiro sighed in relief ignoring the elbow to his midsection before they bolted back to their lions and the coordinates were sent to Black. Both lions had felt the change of mood in their paladins and set off yet they all missed the cloaked figure walking away.

It wasn't long before they came across two Galra cruisers and Shiro slowed a bit. "Black and I won't get through them undetected. We'll have to go a longer route around them. You and Green go through."

"Shiro wait I might be able to give you a short time cloaking field. But I don't know how long it will hold."

"I'll set up a timer and try to be fast."

The field went up around Black and Shiro started the timer as they flew by the Galra cruisers and the fliers, Shiro felt Black take over so he could look at the timer. A full two minuets went by as they neared the destination and the field around Black went down after they landed in cave like openings. "There doesn't seem to be anything or anyone here."

"Maybe that's what we're suppose to think." After Shiro had left Black in a bigger alcove he joined Pidge entering the thin tunnel and reached a dead end with zero gravity rocks floating around them.

"It's a dead end." Pidge said as Shiro used his jet pack looking arou-

BONG!

Pidge wiped out her bayard only to find Shiro laying front down on the ground and lifting his head with a groan. "Found something." He lifted a small rock that fell straight down and looked at her. Pidge had the most goofy grin on her face.

"This your way of finding stuff?"

"Very funny Gremlin."

Getting the hatch open wasn't to hard and they floated down into the spy like facility, which Pidge pointed out looking around as Shiro stood up and turned when he heard something behind them, he hadn't much time to warn her as the figure attacked them with a staff and blocked their attacks before swinging Pidge down on the floor.

"What have you done to my brother?!"

The figure hesitated giving Shiro a second to tackle him away from Pidge and stayed between the two and Pidge got a solid hit knocking the helmet off their opponent and Shiro didn't have enough second to pull her back as she charged with her bayard.

They both froze however as the figure turned.

"Pidge?" He blinked.

"Matt?" Pidge asked stepping back and letting her bayard disappear and Shiro came closer staring at him.

"Shiro?!" Matt's jaw hung as he took in the sight of his friend who shrugged. "One: Your sister is stubborn. Two: You are sooo in for it pal."

Matt stood up to hug Pidge and grasped his friend's hand. "Heh, I'd say you're both stubborn."

"There's a gra-"

"Shiro. Please don't go there. Few years maybe?" Pidge bent her head back to look at him and he shrugged. "Fine. Don't maul the jerk who scared the both of us half to death with a fake grave."

Matt cringed. "Sorry, it's mostly to get bounty hunters off our tails. Trust me there's a lot of those guys creeping around like ants. But seriously how did the two of you get so far into space? Shiro I can understand because we got captured and-"

"Uh yeah- My right arm is a prosthetic." Shiro moved it and they could hear the wiring sound from it. "It's a long story on my end but is there any chance you've heard of Voltron?" Pidge asked with a sheepish grin. "Of course I've heard of Voltron." Looking between his sister and his long time friend he noticed they wore the same armor but colored differently.

"Well... We're two of the paladins."

Matt was quiet as the news sank in until a grin appeared. "No, no seriously? You're a Paladin of Voltron? That's so awesome!" He lifted Pidge into his arms and spun her around in a hug.

Shiro crossed his arms looking at Pidge. "And the gremlin here is a 24/7 tech monster. It's next to impossible to make her go to bed at times." Said gremlin gave him the most shit eating grin that proved she and Matt were related.


	10. Shared Pain III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt tours the castle and finds Keith. Now where could he have been?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story and drabble because when i originally wrote it it was 3:30AM

**~Chapter 10 - Shared Pain III~**

Shiro was pacing his room hours after they had returned to the Castle of Lions where Matt and Pidge had run all over the place showing her brother every nook and cranny of it. Thou they noticed she skipped the Red Lion's hanger and Shiro stopped when he remembered Matt's unhealthy curiosity and went to the room assigned to Matt and found it-

"Empty. Of course he put it together." Shiro jogged to the red hanger to find Matt outside and about to lift his hand to the panel when he locked over his shoulder. "Oh hey Shiro. Pidge must have missed to show me this hanger."

"Matt let me first-"

_swish._

"-Save you the heart wreaking truth..." Shiro groaned as the gray lion was revealed and then he blinked. "Wait Black? What are you doing in here?" Matt nearly fell backwards trying to look at the lion and gaped. "Okay it never crossed my mind how huge she is... What is she?! 60 stories high?!"

"More like a courter of Mount Everest."

_Very amusing._

"Thank you. She said we were just hilarious."

"Really? She knows sarcasm?"

"Sadly."

Black turned back to her offline sister and then to Matt. _He was also your friend. Keith._

Matt nodded before his eyes shifted to the lion and then at Shiro who was looking away. "Keith is the red paladin? He never said that." Shiro spun around and Matt blinked at him waving his hand behind Shiro. "He's standing behind yo- What do you mean they can't see you?"

Shiro looked over his shoulder around the hanger and then back at Matt who rolled his eyes, took Shiro's bio-hand and placed it midair bending his fingers. "There, now your hand is on Keith's shoulder!"

"Matt... He's not there..."

_I can not sense him or Red._

Matt looked at them both and then past Shiro. "You've been here the whole time haven't you?"

...

"Red split herself? Then where-"

...

"You- Shiro's arm and your knife?! How the hell did you manage that?!" Matt's eyes widen and Shiro admitted defeat.

"What are you rambling about now?"

"Oh nothing. He's gone now anyway. He always did that at the Garrison remember?" Matt shook his head.

**000**

Matt joined them on a infiltration mission to get more data and the speed he and Pidge had were astounding, Shiro stood with his right hand on the panel and the Holts tapping up a storm. "Shiro your arm is amazing! Horrible to think you have it but still-"

"Matt, rambling."

"He's my brother of course we ramble!" Pidge grinned at him and shut her laptop. "And done! Let's go and-" They all lost their balance when the station rocked from the explosion and Hunk cried out in the radio.

' _Sorry! Galra cruisers arrived so expect wayward shots!'_

"We're done anyway. Lance get ready."

_'Roger. Blades are clearing the hanger but I think the hall way you took has collapsed. Try find another way and I'll join.'_

The inside team ran to a new pick up point and Blue crashed her head through and opened her jaw. "Actually how about I make a new exit?" Lance flew them to where Black and Green were helping dwindling the fliers and their paladins boarded. "Let's go! To many cruisers and we can't form Voltron!" Shiro yelled as they tried to retreat but it was like a swam of wasps were on them.

_'I really hate that Red is offline! She was one heck of a flame thrower!'_ Pidge screamed over the blasting from the Lions and nearly got hit when Yellow zoomed in and took it. _'Thanks Hunk!'_ _  
_

Shiro found his team and cleared a path that Pidge got through and repeated it until they had a head start but the fliers were right on them. Hunk appeared on Shiro's screen.

_'I really hate that Red is down! We could really use my cannon!'_ He was panicking and Shiro could only agree. "I could clear out all the fliers and your jaw-blades would cut through those cruisers!" Shiro looked at the screen with Matt even thou the other man was in the seat behind him. "Matt you've been able to see Keith..."

"Well, yeah he's right beside you and fades to the others."

_'Wait what?! Mullet is in here?!'_

"No he's beside Pidge no _oope_ now he's with Hunk."

They grunted as Black took a heavy hit and Matt saw Keith appear again, still in his paladin armor but a red aura around him. Keith looked at him over his shoulder and then formed his hands in a V formation and mouthed 'Voltron'.

- _So that's where Red Lion went-_ He thought and then his eyes widen. "Guys go in formation! I think I know what Keith's been trying to tell me!"

_'But we don't have Red!'_

"Yes you do! Red's separation backfired because of Black! _Red is in the other Lions and Keith is within you!"_

For Shiro everything became muffled like he was underwater and stared ahead trying to take in what Matt was saying.

Keith hadn't been gone...

He had been with them the whole time.

The nightmares hadn't been nightmares, but Keith's way of trying to tell them what happened. He closed his eyes and then reopened them to look on his right when Keith just crouched to smile at him and look out the window. "Do as Matt says! Form up!" Shiro pulled the sticks back to fly up and between him and Lance there was an empty space when a flash flared from them all and brightest was from Shiro's arm and the Marmora knife Matt had with him.

Shiro and Matt opened their eyes when a lion roared, everything exploded in fire and a streak of red shot past and a howl over the comms. Lance gaped in his cockpit as the wall of fliers before him melted and then a head appeared upside down. _"Bo!"_

Lance jerked back and Blue did a back roll and once she up-righted Red was before them and a screen popped up with Keith grinning in red cockpit. " _What? Not going to insult my hair?"_ The feed closed and Red shot away to melt the fliers chasing Pidge and laughed. _"Hey Midget!"_

_"...KEITH KOGANE YOU ARE SO DEAD WHEN WE ARE DONE HERE!"_

Matt gulped and laughed nervously. "Oh he's dead alright."

Shiro laughed and the rest of them joined the fray with Keith and Red blazing around them. "Well there's our firebug!" Matt cackled and Keith appeared on his screen.

_"It wasn't my fault the lab caught fire! You know they tampered with my chemical set!"_

"Hey I fricking love you for that! You closed the Garrison two weeks early for the Holiday season!"

"Alright you two let's share old Garrison destruction stories later!" Shiro reminded them and Black stopped as fire erupted from above and Red followed and headed for the cruisers. "You are really letting lose aren't you?"

_"I've been stuck in spirit form for months! Red is as itchy as I am!... And I'm not a firebug!"_

Shiro snorted. "No you're not."

_"Thank yo-"_

"You're a spitfire."

_"-I hate you Shiro"_

Two cruisers remained and a lot of fliers and the were almost surrounded when Hunk appeared again, this time giddy with happiness. _'NOW can we use my cannon?!'_ Shiro nodded with a grin and looked around them. "Good to have you back Keith. Now how about we finally form Voltron again?"

_'YEAH!'_

The fliers had zero chances after that and after the cannon was replaced with the sword and then doubled Shiro called out his black one and Matt gulped. "Uh Shiro? What does all five bayards do?"

"Flare up the very long blade?" He guessed and shoved it into its socket and it sure flared up.

_"Still not a firebug!"_ Keith called out as he made Voltron hold the sword with both hands and cut through the cruisers like butter and they separated and fled to the Castle that had its particle barrier up and blasted what it could. Allura appeared on their screen when they neared.

_"Paladins I don't know how but the Red Lion's body is missing and-"_

Keith appeared from behind Black and on her screen. "You called Princess?" He grinned and she gaped for a moment before utterly losing her shit and screamed that he was in so much trouble not even Shiro could save him.

_"How were we to know Black would try teleport us and stuck us in between I don't know what! Red's been pissed about it ever since! Matt was the only one who could see me since the rest of you started screaming when ever I tried to show you in your dreams!"_

_"You traumatized us! You traumatized SHIRO!"_ Pidge screamed on top of her lungs through the comms and Keith winced and nodded his head a split second later. _"My ass is going to get kicked. Got it."_

Landing in their hangers they headed to the Red hanger where Keith stepped out of Red's mouth removing his helmet and ended up in a group hug. "I'm guessing this is what was suppose to happen after Zarkon?" He grunted as Pidge nearly snapped his middle and Lance slapped him on top of the head. "Well yeah Mullet! Instead we've had to deal with Lotor and what ever crazy shit he's cooking up!"

Keith just looked at him and Hunk tilted his head. "Wait you don't know?"

"I was mostly stuck in here unseen and unheard until Matt showed up and knew sign language."

"Thank you for listening to me and take the course!" The man threw his arms up and then froze before nearly knocking his two friends off their feet. "Original trio is back!"

**000**

After changing to sleeping clothes and bunking in the lounge Keith explained his end of the fight and after.

...

_Keith groaned as he came too and looked around Red's dark cockpit and tested the sticks. "Red? You okay?"_

**_Yes, but something is off..._ **

_"Off how." He asked and stood up holding the chair and rubbed his head after removing the helmet when the doors were bended up and Shiro nearly landed on his face. Keith snorted and rose his hand._

_"Shir-"_

_The taller man went right through Keith who froze in place as the rest filed in and Lance also went through him.  
_

**_Are you kidding me?!_ **

_Keith looked at his hands as they glowed and changed to paws and then Red was standing there, in lion form and looking at the Paladins._

**_By. The. Meteor I come from you have got to be joking! BLACK!_ **

_"Care to tell me?"_

**_I was trying to briefly move us to the others when Zarkon started zapping us but Black must have tried to teleport us and now... We're stuck! I can feel I'm not in the Astral plane like usual when we are not in battle._ **

_Since then Keith noticed that he was limited to the Red hanger only, sometimes the other lions would come in and sometimes a paladin. One time Allura and Coran entered and spoke about how it was easy to find a paladin but to replace the lion was just out of the question. Red was fuming most of the time and Keith tried to have patience until he tried to enter their dreams and all hell broke lose._

_Later Keith found he could be in the other lions as well and stood beside Shiro when they were out fighting and every time Shiro would look to his right ready to command when his voice just died and Keith wrote it off as the red nebula tricking them.  
_

_Weeks would pass with rotation and Pidge would manage to lean the pilot chair far enough back to resemble a bed and climbed into it with her pillow, a blanket and his red jacket. Even Red felt the ache in her chest watching the little girl lose another member of her family._

_Since the lions couldn't feel him he would lounge on either of them as they huddled around Red and when he was on Black's front paw the doors opened and Keith shot up with a grin on his face._

_"Matt!" He called out and jumped down as the rebel officer and Shiro entered. Shiro was talking about Keith and Matt's eyes eventually shifted to Keith._

"He's standing behind yo- What do you mean they can't see you?"

_Keith had quickly signed that Team Voltron couldn't see his ghost form and if they could reverse it he would explain._

_Shiro looked over his shoulder around the hanger with a haunted look in his eyes that made Keith pinch himself hard and then back at Matt who rolled his eyes, took Shiro's bio-hand and placed it midair bending his fingers. "There, now your hand is on Keith's shoulder!"_

_It was. Yet slightly through Keith who looked at Matt sadly before stepping back and signed something again_

_"Matt... He's not there..."_

_Matt looked at up at Black and then past Shiro. "You've been here the whole time haven't you?"_

_Keith singed -Yes, Red split her self to avoid Zarkon's attack but something went awry.-  
_

_"Red split herself? Then where-"_

_-Well I had my knife with me so I hid one part in it and the other in Shiro's Galra arm to- -  
_

_"You- Shiro's arm and your knife?! How the hell did you manage that?!" Matt's eyes widen and Shiro admitted defeat._

_"What are you rambling about now?"_

_Keith laughed at the tired sigh. Rambling Matt so things were terrific. He faded from the floor and back up on a Lion._

_"Oh nothing. He's gone now anyway. He always did that at the Garrison remember?"_

**_000_ **

_During the escape battle Keith faded between the lions and growled.  
_

_"Figured out a way to reverse this yet?"_

**_No. Argh! So many fliers and we're useless! I want to melt them!_ **

_"So far they are holding out." Keith faded back to Black's cockpit just as Shiro asked Matt about seeing Keith and the comms exploded as Matt revealed where Keith went next. The next time he joined them he signed to Matt to tell them to try form Voltron.  
_

_Keith felt a pull as Red roared and white light blinded them. He reopened his eyes to find himself in the cockpit and it was lit up and warm, the Bayard appeared in his hand from where ever Allura had placed it and grinned. "Time to set some Galra on fire!" Red stood up and blasted out of her hanger and once near Black she let lose the fire and Keith opened a link and howled in joy as they shot past and blew up any flier unfortunate enough to be in their path._

**_000_ **

"...And I think that covers everything." Keith finished and slipped down from the couch back down to where Shiro and Matt sat and swung so that his legs were in Matt's lap and head on Shiro's thigh. "So how did Pidge find you and why do you look like Shaggy?"

Shiro lost it at the scandalized look Matt had and Lance howled that he had been thinking about that but couldn't name the character. "Go back to being a ghost you pest."

"Can't. You missed me to much." Keith grinned back and Matt sighed. "Yeah I did and about that holy fucking hell I am so sorry for being captured and left you with those jerks at the Garrison!" He placed his hands in a prayer pose and then opened an eye when Keith snorted.

"I got kicked out not long after. I packed a bag the night before with both your clothes as well and then when my patience were desert dry I punched Iverson, took the hover bike and left. Spent a year in the shack looking for some energy that turned out to be the Blue Lion but when I took the pictures of the markings they didn't lit up, which they did when Lance was there with us. Allura cleared up that for me."

"I did?"

"Lion sense their paladin."

"Oh."

"Then Blue blasted out of her hiding place and shot into space. This after Shiro crashed and got drugged by said Garrison bastards." Shiro muttered something in Japanese and Matt understood enough to almost fling his head off with a pillow screaming ' _Children under 18 in the room!'_ and Keith nearly rolled out of the couch and their laps clutching his sides, since he was in that state the younger trio couldn't ask him what Shiro had said and Matt refused to translate.

Coran checked the translator on board and blinked. "Odd, it didn't translate that but it translates Lance who's been speaking Spanish this whole time."

"He has?" They all looked at the Blue paladin who stretchered in his seat. "Well yeah but I switch in between. But what did Shiro say?!"

"You don't want to know!" Keith was wheezing like an old man drying his tears and panted. "Oh if you ever say that to Iverson holy quiznak I'm going to drop." "You're not going anywhere after this stunt. No matter which Lion was behind it." Shiro tugged a tuff of Keith's hair and Matt slapped Keith's leg. "I thought I was going crazy seeing you but Shiro couldn't- Why could I see you anyway?"

Keith looked at him and shrugged. "I keep wondering why Coran and Allura didn't see me."

Allura blinked before something dawned. "The mice! They said you were in the hanger and we went down to investigate and it was one of those times the lions would all be in the Red hanger. I thought I imagined it but the mice said you were on the Black lion's paw-"

"And then I moved over to Blue's back yeah I remember that time." Keith made grabby hands towards Pidge and caught the pillow being throw and shoved it between his head and Shiro's thigh. "You're a brick." He grumbled and looked at Allura. "But you never told Coran you had seen me?"

"No and it never crossed my mind again even if the mice would tell me over and over."

Said little furballs ran in and climbed Matt's leg to sit on Keith's chest and he pet each of them. "Thanks for keeping me company while I was ghosty." The mice all squeaked and Chulatt made extra angry noises waving their little arm at him. "I can only guess that was a scolding?" Allura nodded and then her smile fell. "Speaking of scoldin _get back here!_ "

Keith had shot from his spot and out the door before Matt or Shiro could grab him and bolted after him, Coran got the camera feeds and guided them all to where ever Keith ran but he was to quick and got away. The next 3 hours was a hide and chase with them shouting when they spotted him or Coran guiding them.

Shiro and Matt.

Hunk and Lance.

Allura and Pidge.

Eventually Coran took pity on Keith and brought up a hologram that ran around and the real Keith slipped into the lounge again grabbing a water pack. "Okay lesson learned. Do not disappear with out a word and scare everyone. Anything you'd like to add?"

"Talk to Shiro when you can."

Pidge's words rang in his head and Keith winced. "Traumatized him... Shit." Coran nodded and kept guiding them around the castle until he called them back and Keith was back in his spot, bending his head back to grin at them and let the pillow Shiro threw hit him. Coran closed the cameras and clapped his hands. "Well time for some rest. Chop chop to your rooms or pick a spot."

**000**

In the morning Keith woke up first and found that Pidge was squished between him and Matt, Shiro on his right and all had their arms around him somehow. Lance was asleep on Shiro's other side and Hunk was by their feet. Allura was asleep on the couches and Coran was in his rooms because Keith couldn't see him in here.

Slipping out of his prison was difficult but neither Shiro nor the Holts woke up and he escaped to the training deck to let loose on some bots. He had probably been there for an hour before Shiro and Matt came barreling in in panic and slumped in relief.

"Seriously Keith?! What did we talk about yesterday?!"

"Payback."

Both looked at each other and then shrugged, accepting the reply and understood better before walking forward as Keith ended the training sequence and his bayard went to sleep mode and then took out his knife which Matt realized had been unwrapped and a glowing symbol was near the hilt. "Not wrapped."

"Found out I was part Galra."

Shiro slapped a hand over his mouth bending away as Matt looked like Keith had told him Pidge had a boyfriend and Keith shrugged and tacked down on his fingers anything Galran trait they had discovered he had. The eyes, the way he fought, he could wake his knife into a blade which he demonstrated, he could interact with Galra tech and his short fuse. "So you saying I was alien wasn't to far off."

"THAT WAS A JOKE! HOW WAS I TO KNOW YOU WERE PART ALIEN?!"

"Hey I'm also part Galra." Shiro held up his arm and Matt blinked before sucking his lips and lifted his left pant leg...

Galra prosthesis.

"Waaay after you got me from the arena. Got a heavy metal box that crushed the knee and down so about here-" He placed his hand about mid thigh and up. "-Is my leg. Rest is metal." They all had matching grins now and Shiro uncrossed an arm to cover his eyes and Keith threw his head back in a laugh. "Well since the 'Garrison Trio' title has gone to the youngsters I guess we're the Galra Trio?"

"Yep."

"I swear we're like Huey, Dewey and Louie." Shiro snorted and after that they were a laughing mess on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matt's leg prothesis was something I just threw in.


	11. Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have seen S1E9 - Rebirth and remember that one scene when Keith is standing with Pidge slightly poking out from behind him holding his arm...
> 
> that was pretty much my undoing and i thought "Space big brother! sibling fluff!"
> 
> also i barely watched the S4E4 because omg it was torture! so let pretend even the mice were clueless, what little I know is that the Voltron show was Coran's idea.

Keith had been on a Blades mission again and arrived at the Castle of Lions to copy the information and thus save misunderstandings and time. He passed the lounge and found Pidge asleep on the couch with her laptop still on and casting a blue light on her sleeping form. Keith shook his head as he went to save everything she had been working on and after making sure she had a sleepy death grip of it he lifted her up and carried the Green paladin to her room and got the laptop from her.

"'m not a 'aby Matt." She mumbled as he drew the blanket up to her chin and she turned her head away. "'o away Shiro..."

Keith smiled before making his way out and waved at the caterpillars that had joined Pidge after her landing on their home when the wormhole had sent them all away. He made his way to the bridge and found the Paladin seats were still up and sat down in the Red one getting the screens up to start copying everything he got. He had been there for about 40 minutes when the doors opened and the Mice climbed his leg to greet him. "Hey guys, keeping an eye on Allura like promised?"

They all saluted but Chulatt, whom Keith like the most, looked at them all before just stretching its arms straight up. Keith positioned the arm in a salute pose and the mouse got a more determined expression. "Good, and the others?"

Next was a charade of Team Voltron and Keith chuckled when Shiro had once again failed to cook something. "He was never good at it back at the Garrison either. What else have I missed?"

Platt pointed at the screen and held up two paws. "You want a second screen? You have something to show?" -nod nod- "Okay then- There." Platt brought something up and Keith's brain short circuited.

"Voltron on Ice? Who's quiznaking idea was that?!"

Plachu, the mouse with red eyes, made a mustache and Keith sighed. "And just what possessed him to do that?" They all shrugged and he nodded before going back to his screen until all the info was copied and he closed his screen when the mice held something to him, it was a datapad and the Voltron show was on it. "You want me to follow them?"

-nod nod-

"Sorry, the thought is comforting but it will just make me miss them even more." Keith grunted when something small smacked into his back and arms came around him, he looked under his arm and found light brown hair and green pajamas.

Pidge.

"Didn't I put you to bed nearly an hour ago?" He asked slightly amused and loosen her arms enough to turn and wrap his own arms around her. "You did but then I woke up and the caterpillars pointed at the photo of you on my wall and I looked at the cameras where you were. Stop making nightly visits when we miss you like fuck and want to see you!"

"Language Midget." He had let her finish her sentence before pointing out the slip and his smile fell. "I- It felt better that way... Not seeing everyone aaand I'm being an idiot aren't I?" He asked when the mice ran up to Pidge's head and they all five glared at him intensely. Pidge snuggled closer to him and Keith knew that there was a slim chance she would let him go and picked up the datapad the mice had tried to give him.

"Voltron show?"

"...Oh. my. god who told you about it?!"

"Theeey are on your head."

"...Traitors." She looked up and they looked down at her with smiles and two ran up to Keith's shoulder and pointed at the datapad. "Okay okay I'll take it with me. Thanks for making it a collapsible one I can have in my pouches." He put it in the left one and checked the time. "I have to go before Kolivan orders a search party or comes for me himself."

"No, you are staying till dinner at least!" She hugged him again and no matter how much he tried to make her let go she refused until he admitted defeat and got a communicator out of his right pouch.

_"Keith, what's the delay?"_ Kolivan appeared on the screen and Kieth merely turned it so it showed Pidge holding him and the mice giving sour looks. _"Ambushed?"_

"Something like that and she refuses to let go unless I agree to spend a day or two at the Castle. I got the info copied at least and it looks like I have to send the rest to you."

_"We have some Blades near Olkarion. I could have one of them pick it up."_

"I'll be back when this Midget finally let's go. Small yes. Strong, also yes."

Kolivan had a rare smile on his face as Keith made the communicator hover back a bit to show them both and Pidge nuzzled closer. "Okay are you literally trying to merge into me? I am staying for two days!" He poke her sides and while she squawked and almost let him go she hung on for dear life.

_"Two days. Then I would like Keith back here Little one."_

"No promises."

Keith caught the now dormant communicator and poke her again. "Alright smurf back to bed so I can crash in my room, which I assume is still mine."

"Of course it is dummy! Just because your scrawny ass is out playing demolition spy doesn't mean you're still family! Oh wait you don't even know about Clone Shiro." She looked up at him and as she had guessed there was a thunder struck expression on his face, opened and closed his mouth before sinking back in the seat, she let go of him and stood back to let him process the news.

"Explain. Slowly and as short as possible... One words if you have to."

So he moved over and they shared the chair as Pidge, as requested, told him how Matt had mixed with his old glasses and made one of the lenses like a scanner able to detect things just as the visor in her helmet and she had found that she could see Shiro's arm under the Paladin armor but that wasn't the only metal she had discovered. She withheld it all and after asking Matt for some stories from the Garrison Pidge had made sure Lance and Hunk had their bayards near before questioning Shiro.

Keith wrapped an arm around her as she took more shallow breaths and stumbled over her words as she explained her little quiz with Shiro and Matt found he had to correct them more and more often.

"-And then there was the thing about Shiro letting you join the Blades and Matt sprang up shouting that Shiro would never have let you go and Coran confirmed that there had been no PTSD episodes from Shiro since you found him. But then Lance and Hunk stood blaster ready and all hell broke loose. We made him follow us to the pool and after Allura made the water fall down, we used our jetpacks and I shot my bayard to really shock him and our dear shooters demolished the drone made to look like Shiro and have his memories. Thanks to Matt and Coran we knew it wasn't him and our Voltron shows allowed us to visit planets and of course our usual 'free the planets from the Galra'."

She took a breath and Platt came with a water pack for her and after a few sips she looked at Keith. "Then what happened?" He asked.

"Well, there was a little girl... I forget the planet and race but she said that there was a man in an armor like mine who was in a sleep they couldn't wake him from. I asked to be shown there and we flipped because they had Shiro and they said they had kept him here until we happen to arrive. Shiro woke up after a few days when Lance suggested we bring him to Black and she managed to wake him and he counted up everything from our Zarkon fight, Matt quizzed him for two hours and when he heard you were gone he freaked out... And he had a PTSD episode just yesterday that Matt managed to bring him out off."

"Okay. So back to bed with you, I'll go to bed and we'll deal with the hug feast in the morning."

They stood up and as Pidge entered her room but stopped, ran back and hugged him again. "You're my older brother too and I'm glad you're back, even if it's just a little while."

**000**

Morning came and Pidge ran to Keith's room just as he came out putting on his red jacket and smiled at her. "Hey I said two days. Have I gone back on my word?"

"You might one day."

"And here I thought you trusted me." He pouted and she laughed and pulled him to the dining room, the doors slipped open and she waited till Hunk was sitting down before rushing in. "Special delivery for the Black Paladin!" Shiro was in the high seat and turned the chair slightly, dark circles under his eyes that widen when he took in Keith and was across the room in a heartbeat almost snapping Keith in half hugging him.

"Twig...Here..." He gasped and almost lost his balance being dropped and panted. "And I thought Pidge was a hug monster." Pidge just grinned widely at him as the others joined and they ended up in another group hug that lasted longer, Hunk scrambled off to make a plate for Keith and Lance was about to update him when Keith held up a hand.

"Pidge and the mice updated me last night when I got here. I was copying some data over to you and planned on sneak away again but the mice caught me and then Pidge, I literally had to show Kolivan why I won't be back for two days." Matt expressed his pride to his sister while Shiro's smile fell a bit.

Keith would have to talk to him later.

After when they split Pidge dragged him to the observation deck they usually found Shiro in and nearly flung Keith inside. "Here you go Shiro! I'll go wait for the Blade that's coming to pick up this!" She held up the encryption item and scrambled off. Keith turned around to find Shiro had finally turned himself and tears were falling from his red rimmed eyes and he looked absolutely wreaked.

Keith remembered the mentioned PTSD episode Shiro had had the day before. "Sorry isn't enough right now I admit." Keith started but his voice died when he was pulled into a more gentle but firm hug and Shiro buried his face in his neck and Keith wrapped his arms around the taller man.

"...Come back..."

The words were quiet and Keith had to strain to hear them as he turned his head slightly.

"Please come back... Don't leave again..."

Sadly Pidge had not mentioned what Shiro's episode had been about as Matt had shooed everyone out of the room and had forgotten to ask him about what Shiro had seen. But luckily she just arrived and Keith nodded to the bean bags and led Shiro there, she stayed hidden until Shiro was asleep clinging to Keith and she sat in a bean bag.

"What was the episode about?" Keith asked after some time.

"Well after the Blade picked up the encryption I went to find Matt about that and he told me that- It was about you. That's all Matt could get out of Shiro but I agree. If Shiro is to recover from his PTSD you have to be around for that... You're the only one who can fully heal him."

"But the Blades-"

"Well they will have to let you go! Shiro can barely function without you around. We made the huge mistake of having a hologram of you around and Shiro tried to touch it once, boy did that backfire." Keith nodded and looked down at Shiro and ran his fingers through the white fringe, black hair and finger tips on the undercut.

"This is the first time he has actually rested." Pidge said after a moment and Keith sighed looking out the deck. "This is why I didn't want to get close to someone... Suddenly I had Shiro and your brother and a year later I have them, two Alteans and a younger Garrison trio needing me."

"Well get used to it because you are not leaving again!" Pidge puffed her cheeks and crawled so she was in his other side clinging to him. "Kolivan is letting go off you in two days!"

**000**

Later in his room Keith contacted Kolivan and told him about Post Traumatic Stress-Disorder and its symptoms. Kolivan listened and even noted it all down. _"So for Shiro to function well enough to lead Voltron you will have to be there with him? And leaving him for just one Blade mission seems out of the question according to Pidge?"_

"She thinks so but I have no idea really." Keith rubbed his neck and sighed. "And we've tried part time too."

_"So the two options is convincing them to continue as a Blade or me letting you go back to them. I will need some time to think about that."  
_

"Not like I found out anything about my mother anyway."

Keith looked up when someone knocked on his door and then Matt appeared. "Keith, Shiro froze up again and nothing I do can snap him out of it. Lance found him on the training deck." Keith took the communicator with him to show Kolivan and Lance held it once they arrived and Keith knelt by Shiro who was stock still on his knees staring at nothing but after some coaxing and back rubbing from Keith he seemed to return to them and looked at Keith.

"Keith?"

"You back now? Lance found you frozen up and Matt couldn't bring you back."

Shiro swallowed and the sweat clung to him like a second skin as his two best friends led him to his room and Kolivan asked Pidge some more questions. She later went to find the three of them in Shiro's room, him asleep with Keith close to the wall in the bed with Shiro hugging him and Matt sitting on the edge of the bed.

"-can't leave him, not now at least. Or ever actually." Matt said and moved so that his back was on the short wall by the foot end of the bed and stretched his legs out, crossing them by the ankles. Keith nodded as he absentmindedly ran his hand through Shiro's undercut and his eyes shifted to Matt. "But why didn't he respond to you this time? Pidge said you managed before?"

"Yeah but she cheated and brought out a hologram of you and randomly picked the lines from your previous times getting Shiro out of his episodes."

"Well I had to!" Pidge said and let the door slid close and took the chair that Matt seemed to have used at first before taking the foot end. "Keith could be god knew where and contact was impossible."

"Yet it stopped working after he tried to touch that hologram."

Keith sighed and looked down at Shiro again.

**000**

The two days passed and in the middle of the night Keith stood in his blade uniform by the ship he had used preparing to leave when he was caught. "Keith, please don't leave." Shiro begged as Keith turned. "I'm just going to see what Kolivan decides and return the ship, hitch a ride with someone else on the return." Keith stepped forward running his hands over Shiro's slightly heaving chest and frowned. "Shiro you have to calm down... And when did you shave last?"

Shiro blinked and ran his left hand over his jaw and blinked again. "I have no idea."

"Well you suit with it and long hair." Keith smiled and Shiro quirked a brow.

"How long are we talking?"

"About here-" Keith pressed his hand to Shiro's shoulder blades and he groaned. "Forget it and I will shave before going to bed again. I don't need to look 10 years older and the mullet look suits you wonderfully."

"Lance thinks other wise."

"Lance can shove it."

Keith clung to him as he exploded in laughter and Shiro quickly blinked the tears away when they heard a squawk and Keith grunted when he had a something pound green paladin attached to his waist again. "Here we go again." He sighed as Pidge scolded him in Italian which the translators couldn't pick up as they were in the hangers. " Pidge, English."

She bent her head back to look at him. "You are not leaving or so fucking help me I'll-"

"Pidge!"

"Oh don't bother it's not the first time she's spewed that rainbow."

Shiro gave a look that just screamed ' _she's a baby she shouldn't know words like that!'._

Keith repeated his plan and after a few tugs and tears she stepped back with Shiro's arms around her as Keith jumped into his ship.

"Swear you'll come back." Pidge insisted.

"Please." Shiro pleaded.

**000**

Left wing slightly damaged and headed straight for the barrier Keith could only imagine the sheer damage he would do to Team Voltron as Matt howled in his ear trying to stop him. Voltron had made it out of Naxzela before they got trapped and were trying to get away as Haggar charged it to explode and Keith was steering his ship into the barrier.

_"Have I gone back on my word?"_

_"You might one day."_

_"If Shiro is to recover from his PTSD you have to be around for that... You're the only one who can fully heal him."_

_"Keith, please don't leave."_

_"Swear you'll come back."  
_

_"Please."_

The barrier was coming closer and Keith closed his eyes and got his mask up. Four meters away he ejected and let the ship slam into the barrier which seemed to hold, crack and then fully shatter. Matt howled in his radio and Keith got the jet pack working as Voltron joined the screaming channel and he smiled.

"Have I ever gone back on my word?"

Silence.

_"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU KEITH!"_ Pidge roared in such rage everyone swore right there never to piss off the Green Paladin and Keith winced. "Noted, I'm going to jet pack to the closest-" He didn't get further as Red swallowed him up and he looked up at Voltron from her mouth and huffed quietly. "I feel I'm in for quite the scolding."

**000**

He was.

Pidge, Allura, Kolivan and Matt nearly took his head off but what really made Keith feel bad was the way Shiro looked as it all finally sank in what Keith had nearly done. "I kept my word at least! I came back and I found Sam."

The Holt's had been about to yell again when all that came out were choking sounds and Shiro looked at him. "You found who?! How- what- " Keith merely looked over his shoulder with a grin. "You going to hide there long?" Out from behind him floated Rover beeping and blinking and Pidge lost it hugging Rover and they were both floating and while Matt and Shiro almost crushed Keith.

Allura turned to Kolivan as the hugging was going on. "Will you let Keith back to us?"

"I hate the thought but I'm guessing I have to. He's found this Samuel Holt and Keith wasn't all that happy with us. And if Shiro is to recover from his time with the Galra it won't do that Keith is with us either full or part time."

They were all looking at him now and Lance had the red bayard out and Allura had the blue, ready to be tossed to their original owners. Kolivan knew this and nodded. "I'm releasing Keith from the Blade of Marmora back to Voltron. He will keep the knife as a reminder that he is always welcome back."

Lance nearly threw the red bayard right in Keith's face and got the blue one smack in the helmet much to their amusement as it lit up for him that he was getting Blue back and bolted to his zipline and down to her, Keith did the same with Pidge clinging to him the whole way. Red lowered her head instantly has they came in.

_WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!_ She roared knocking him to his butt and Black landed not far from them growling at him.

_Repeat that stunt and it will not be the Princess ending you. Understand?_

"Not repeating my dumb ass move as long as I breath and have half a brain, got it." He nodded as he sat cross-legged and looked away with a pout and Red bumped him with her muzzle making him fall over with a laugh.

_You better. If you haven't noticed, you have a slight connection to the other lions as well._

Keith looked at Pidge and then at the two lions. "I was never alone was I? Even when that supply ship exploded and I had a tear in my suit. I tried to call you..." Pidge's hand and throat ached the next two hours as she lost it for the 5th time in just a few weeks and Red was so close to torch Keith right there had Black not gulped him up and into her cockpit.

Shiro ran in soon after and called it off but had his own mind shared in the cockpit with Keith whom literally and for the next 70 years understood that he was not to sacrifice, get himself blown up, leave Voltron even if they returned to Earth and for as long as he lived Shiro would not leave his side ever.

It took a breath stealing kiss from the Black Paladin for Keith to really hold on to his new promises.

He wondered if it was New years Eve on Earth right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mixed Keith/Pidge sibling feels, Lion mothers Black and Red and Sheith mushiness.
> 
> Ironically i post this 01/02/2019 here xDD (on FF i have no idea)


	12. Missing Mouse: Chulatt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chulatt has their own little adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> italic lines is Keith speaking through the vid chat.
> 
> yeah the blades you see are alive.

Keith had just arrived at the Blade's HQ finding Thace and Regris up and about. They caught up when Antok entered and held his large hand out to Keith and opened it.

"I believe the human term is hitchhiker?"

Keith looked at the massive palm and sighed. "Chulatt!" The small blue mouse ran over to Keith's hand and happily smirked up at him. "Does Allura know you are here?" The mouse stared at him before rubbing its head and grinned with a head tilt.

"Oooh quiznak."

**000**

"Um I think we are one mouse short." Lance pointed out at dinner having watched the mice eat from their bowl and they all looked to find he was correct, the mice looked for their companion and Shiro checked his pouches. It had happened that he'd find the mouse hiding there. Pidge sat with her two fluffy hovering caterpillars and Rover so Chulatt wasn't flying on them, Pidge did however check for the mouse's bio signal.

"Um, mouse overboard?" She blinked when she didn't find the mouse and Matt looked over her shoulder. "Seriously? It's an Altean mouse how can the castle not pick it up?!"

Hunk snorted suddenly and set his cup down. "Okay wait hold on a tick." He got a screen up and on it appeared Keith reading on another datapad and looked up at the beep. _"Oh, hey Hunk. What's up?"_

"Keith, did one of the mice happen to end up with you?" Hunk asked straight to the point and the three other mice ran up to his shoulder. "As you can see and quoting Pidge 'Mouse over board'." Keith chuckled as he leaned back crossing his arms. _"Now she cracks ship puns? Took her a while."_

"I know right? Shiro checked his pouches already since he's found-" Hunk looked at the mice and then Allura. "Sorry, still haven't learned their names yet."

"The mouse that is missing Keith is Chulatt. Blue fur and eyes and is the smallest of the four. Lance noticed just now that we were missing one."

Keith hummed and got up to check his bag and after going through it he shook his head. _"Nope not here but check my jacket? I left my Earth clothes at the castle so it could be hiding in the jacket pocket."_

"I scanned the ship already and there's no sign of it!" Pidge appeared on the screen and held up the tablet to show him. Keith rubbed his neck and felt Chulatt giggling in the hood, got a gentle grip around it and blinked. _"Wait what the-"_ He pulled out the mouse upside down and it gave a huge smile waving at them.

Pidge and Hunk cracked. "It was in Keith's hood!" Allura runs into view and gaped. "Chulatt! Oh no you're across the galaxy!" She groaned into her hands and Keith snorted. _"Missed me that much huh? You're not playing fair you know? They would do anything to be with me or drag me back to them."_

"Yes!" Voltron said in chorus, view now bigger showing them by the large dining table. All having similar pouts or sour looks until Shiro and Matt zeroed in on a stitched cut under Keith's fringe. "Keith, is that a cut on your forehead?" Matt asked dangerously and Shiro narrowed his eyes slightly but Keith blinked and ran his fingers over it and hissed. _"No idea that was there... Then again I had just woke up reading mission report when you called."_

He picked up the datapad again with Chulatt playing peek-a-boo around Keith and Pidge would shout out Chulatt's locations til Lance and Matt joined it. Keith found further down how he had once again ran back, gotten the Blade, the info and bailed out when his door opened and a joyful call was heard.

_"Keith you're awake! Thace get back here! Keith is awake!"_

_"Quiet or you'll bring Kolivan here!"_ Thace came in and nodded to Voltron _. "I assume you didn't tell them?"_

_"They noticed this shiner if that's what you mean."_ Keith pointed at the cut. _"Other wise it's all blank."_

_"You came back for me again dummy and got caught in the blast. We might not have those pods that Voltron has but we did enough to patch you up. Your suit got a tear that stole almost all the air out til I got you both. Antok is less then happy with you."_

_"When isn't he?"_

_"Chulatt's prank on Kolivan?"_ Regris reminded, Thace slapped a hand to muffle the snort and Keith hung his head. _"That was like a week ago! Wait- A week and now you noticed Chulatt was missing?"_ Keith looked at Voltron and they looked at each other in confusion.

"Oh uh... We've just been busy with- um..." Hunk started but Thace cut him off.

_"Killing Keith with those horrible shows."_

Keith tipped in his bed howling in laughter and Regris joined him hitting the floor with a fist. Hunk blushed and Shiro groaned into his mismatched hands. "Coran this is your fault." Pidge accused with promising murder in her voice and glare as the older Altean smiled nervously and was about to run when his Princess caught the hem of his coat. Chulatt was covering its ears like it wanted to avoid hearing about it and Thace chuckled.

_"Well as the mouse has been located we should let Keith rest. I'll try keep him alive and hopefully hand him back to you with just the shoulder scar and perhaps more of a drone slayer."_

_"You're the one who unleashes me on them!"_

_"Just nearly took Antok's tail too."_

Regris couldn't make a sound where he was on the floor and Keith hid his face in his hands but waved to Voltron. " _Shiro come save me before Antok kills me."_

"Not sure I'd get there in time buddy. Try not to take any tails is all I can advice." They laughed when Keith flipped the bird and the video ended with Chulatt waving at them after running up Kaith's arm holding onto said bird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the mice are cheeky ^-^


	13. Seperated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My AU view on S2E1 - Across the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry i don't write that much with Lance and Hunk. And i know they find the Space mall in episode 7 of season 2 but i jumbled it together so they have already found the mall, thus Hunk's homemade granola bars :)

Pidge groaned as she came to and found Keith jet packing just outside Green looking around with a 50 something fuzzy colorful jelly beans hovering around him, two of them crash into him making Keith doing loops until he gets himself righted up with the jetpack and grins at them. She could hear him talking to them with a joke or two and checked her lion before joining Keith, spinning them both in more loops before he got his jet pack to stop them again.

"Morning. Red wrapped herself around Green and took most of the hits as we crashed. Both lions are busted and these little guys nearly gave me a heart attack sneaking up on me. Don't worry no one was hurt, I didn't have my bayard out." He gestured to them as Pidge turned around some flew forward.

"Aw they are so cute." She moved in his arms reaching to touch one. Keith's arms stayed over her shoulders like a harness.

"Think our rough landing scared them." Keith had a pink one on his shoulder and another on top of his helmet. "They are a little to cute to be living on this trash nebula."

"And Lance keeps saying you don't have a heart." Pidge looked at him with some jelly fuzzies in her arms. "If something is smaller then you are you turn into a cuddle giant." Keith bumped her shoulder lightly. "Size doesn't matter, I'll attack whatever attacks me first. Think you can magic something together from this junk?"

She looked around them and hummed. "I probably could but I'll need the lions functioning to send out their signals. You know like the one that guided the Blue Lion home?" Keith hummed for a moment before his eyes widen a bit. "I remember. Still feel bad for dragging Shiro back to space and you three away from your families... All this is my fault and now we're who the hell knows where!" He gestured the nebula with his hands and sighed as Pidge spread her arms to let the creatures float out and jet packed forward hugging his waist.

"Don't be like that. This is the most exciting thing that's ever happen to me and now I have the means and aid to find my family! Thanks to you I got to space far earlier then I thought. This is more fun then the boring stuffy Garrison with Commander Iverbutt down our necks." Keith huffed a bit but there was a faint smile so she took it as a win and looked around. "How intelligent do you think these are?"

"Pretty intelligent. I'm going to check on Red but I think Green will come around first." Pidge let him go and looked around at their company. "We'll just be here until our friends finds us."

Five of the creatures smacked together in a line sounding like a squeaky toy and Keith laughed over the radio. _"What was that?"_ Pidge brought a screen up and they repeated the action and he barked a laugh. _"I remember Matt saying you have a dog so don't bring these things back to Earth."_

"Hm, might be a good idea. How's Red?"

_"Still down, reserve power isn't responding either. We'll have to wait for the lions to come online on their own. Come inside, I have of Hunk's homemade granola bars and some drinks."_

Pidge heard her stomach call out and sighed in relief. "I really can't say no to some food." She entered the lion and they sat on the floor behind the pilot seat and Keith had packed just about any sort Hunk had managed to make. She inhaled four bars and two juice pouches and Keith just as many while moaning of how lucky they were he had kidnapped Hunk along.

Keith stayed to check his lion again as Pidge threw some trash puppets together and had a puppet show, knowing Keith was watching and chuckled once in a while and nearly keeled over when she tried to impersonate him. The fuzzy creatures that Keith decided were now Caterpillars all had their marks blinking and then Green's shield came down.

"Hey you're awake! Welcome back!" Pidge tried to swim towards her lion when a cable caught her ankle so she landed on her front and the trash that shattered revealed an old satellite. A caterpillar came up to her squeaking something. "No it's not my friends. It's just an old rusty satellite "

_"But we can contact them now! Pidge I have some tools in here!"_

"Just what don't you have in Red?!"

"... _Aaan extra laptop for you?"_

Together with the caterpillars they set to build a signal beacon on Green's back and a cable connected to Red if Green's energy wasn't enough as Pidge connected the last one. "There. I hope it works." Keith hovered up beside her with a hand on her shoulder. "It was built by you. It will work." The beacon lit up for a moment and then shut down.

"No no! We have to get out of here! We have to find the others!" Pidge yelled.

Keith frowned before looking at their lions. "Little help here?"

Both lions woke up and with a united roar it lit up again and the beam shot upwards, a moment later a portal opened and the Castle of Lions appeared from it. They high-fived and two Caterpillars flanked Pidge's shoulders much to her confusion but Keith smiled. "Sure you get to come along. Pidge could use some friends smaller then her among us flagpoles." He grunted at the fist in his stomach but the laugh was happy all the same.

In the Castle the lions were in their closed hangers and followed Coran to the bridge. "Let's see if we can't locate the other lions now. Well done Pidge! Keith are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Oh and I allowed Pidge some new friends." The caterpillars hovered out from behind him and onto the girl's head and Allura nodded happily. "I think that is an excellent reward for her amazing work today."

**000**

Shiro was the next they found being chased by four monsters and Black was unmoving where she had crashed. Shiro lost his footing clasping his side and just as one of them was about to jump him a huge paw crushed it and Shiro looked up to see nothing but Red and hearing her roar.

_"You want a meal?! How about this?!"_ Keith roared throwing a control stick forward and Red blasted fire from her mouth getting one of the monsters and Green swatting it away from Shiro.

_"Claws off our leader punks!"_ Pidge howled and Green roared her agreement standing guard as Red lowered her head to let Keith out. "Shiro!"

The man looked up and stumbled to get up nearly snapping Keith in half hugging him. "Thank god you're okay..." Shiro whispered and Green rumbled at them before opening her own mouth and Pidge barreled out and into them both. Shiro felt light headed with relief holding them before Red lowered her head and stared at his side until Keith looked himself. "We need to get you in a cryo pod."

"Black is still offline."

Pidge sighed with an Impish grin. "So we have to toe her and your lazy bums to the ship? You really have the 'Damsel in distress' part down don't you?" Shiro gently batted her helmet covered head and Keith snorted as he crossed his arms.

"Paladins are knights too right? I just have to find something to make my armor shine a bit more."

"Keith, I love you but please don't give her ideas."

"I will when you stop disappearing every five minuets." Keith slipped under Shiro's right arm and Pidge supported his left and they guided him into Red just as Black came back online and her sisters towed her back to the Castle. "Let's get you in a pod while we get hold of Hunk and Lance." Pidge looked up at Shiro whom smiles tiredly.

"Knowing them Lance probably landed on a mermaid planet."

**000**

Pidge swears Keith was psychic.

Lance and Hunk _had_ landed on a planet populated by mermaids and Lance discovered Blue was a whole lot faster underwater and had a sonar they used to beat some sea snake that had been controlling the Mermaid queen. Hunk described the food while Lance kept gushing on about the mermaids until Coran called up.

"Well since we now have you two collected let's release Shiro from the cryo pod and ease his mind shall we? Hopefully this hasn't added anything to his PTSD Pidge explained to me." Pidge bolted first and was jumping on her spot when they arrived and gathered around the pod that held their leader.

Lance and Hunk was ready to catch him when he stumbled out and they squawked when Shiro's arms tighten a bit to much around them. He looked up to find Keith and Pidge and they moved to join the hug, Pidge around his waist and Keith pressing to his back. Allura placed her hand on Shiro's right biceps just where the metal met skin and Coran on Shiro's left arm before they all separated to change to sleeping clothes and bunk in the lounge but they never even made 5 minutes into the movie before they were out cold and a tangled mess.

Pillows covered Shiro's outstretched legs where Lance and Hunk rested their heads while Keith and Pidge flanked Shiro's sides with his arms around them and his head resting in Keith's hair, their (Keith and Pidge's) legs were over Hunk and Lance. Allura giggled when she mumbled they were in Voltron formation and Coran quickly took a picture to compare and copied for the albums he was making for them to take back home after the war was over and they had to go their own ways.

The mice and Pidge's caterpillars joined in on the cuddles and Shiro blinked awake at one point to have Chulatt on Keith's head wiping a tear that was falling down his cheek. Shiro carefully lifted his right arm to wipe it away.

"I'm okay." He whispered looking down at them all. "Just glad we're all together again." Chulatt lifted a lock of Keith's hair and made a tiny braid which Shiro found adorable. "Yeah, like a braid. Lets hope it stays untangled."

Chulatt unmade the braid, patted the lock and then ran down Keith's body to where the other mice were. Keith's purple eye glinted briefly under his eye lid as he pressed his big toe to Chulatt's stomach light poking it into Platt and got a giggling squeak. Shiro huffed a laugh and rested his cheek in Keith's hair again as the younger man sighed and mumbled something about his hair not being a mice braid practice.

Shiro begged to differ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pidge has so many older siblings now!! As if one dorky brother wasn't enough xD


	14. Birthday: Pidge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins celebrates Pidge's birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean-- I could post this on Pidge's canon birthday... but honestly that would mess up my own memorized order of the chapters and I think I posted like a week before the canon birthday date.
> 
> (No clone gibberish)

Matt was a sugar fueled hellion (according to Shiro) as they planned Pidge's birthday. Never had they been so happy about her lab obsession and with the lions actually lions Pidge could drop off leaning against Green and snore away a few hours with a mouse and caterpillar asleep next to her. Coran was tasked to keep an eye on the camera feed in case Pidge moved from her lab and around the castle. Lance, Matt and Shiro decorated, Allura was looking for a passible gift among her things that had been packed before the Ship was sent away from Altea and Hunk was in the kitchen.

Shiro interrupted Allura once to have her pilot the ship to the Space Mall when Pidge ran in crashing into Shiro's back hanging like a koala. "Shirooo! Keith is there and he asked me if I wanted to hang out for a while? Can I? Please please please!"

 _'Keith love, you are a fricking Saint!'_ Shiro was almost tear eyed as he looked down at her after she dropped down to hug his waist. "Fine but I'll pilot you down there in a Space pod. We don't need a lion drawing attention." Pidge cringed at that and he slapped his forehead. "Wait, Keith told me about your last Mall adventure."

"Hey it was all Coran's fault and those disguises!"

Coran shrugged with a blush. "It's been 10.000 years! How was I to know?"

"...Sorry, I keep forgetting you and Allura were cryo sleeping." Pidge blushed and then tugged Shiro's large human hand in her small ones. "Come on come on! You might get a few word with Keith too!"

At the entrance of the Mall they caught sight of that red-white jacket and then Pidge seemed to teleport from Shiro's side straight into Keith's arms almost knocking him off his feet and he turned it into a helicopter hug. "Hey Midget!"

"I missed you to much to be offended by that name!" She giggled and stayed hugging his waist as Shiro and Keith hugged. "You okay?" Keith whispered as his arm moved between them and Shiro huffed a laugh. "Besides the possible-Pidge-formed bruise after she meteoroid into my back? I'm good." Pidge stuck her tongue out at him and they chuckled before Keith turned slightly. "Well I'll pilot her back later and then I have to get back to the Blades."

"Yeah I know. I'm glad I got to see you thou. Try avoid that guard?"

Keith rolled his eyes but waved as they headed into the Mall and Shiro headed back to the pod and had just exited the pod when he nearly got Lance smacking into him.

This time Shiro, with guilty consciousness, stepped aside and cringed when Lance face smacked into the pod's hull and hit the floor. "Sorry Lance! Pidge already imprinted herself on my back today. Keith was in the area and is distracting her at the Space Mall."

The speed the younger paladin possessed was impressive. "Wait what?! Mullet is this close and he's not dropping by?!" He held his finger inches apart before throwing his arm around gesturing the castle.

"He only has enough time to have her away from the Castle while we get things in order and then he has to leave. But if we follow the map Keith gave me we should steer clear from them if we go for the presents." Shiro held out the little device Keith had slipped into his pouch during their hug and whispered it location after asking how he was doing. Lance looked at it with a frown and then stuck his hands in his jeans pockets looking away.

"Yeah... Great..."

Shiro sighed in understanding. "I miss him too but- Forcing him isn't going to solve anything. But we have to remind him that we are his human side and The Blades his Galra side-"

"That's just it! Why did he have to be hybrid?! Why Galra of all things! Before he knew about it he was glued, chained and brazed with us! Now we barely see a hair of his mullet!" Lance turned to hide his tears but the hand on his shoulder was shaking.

"Believe me... I know."

**000**

"Hunk is so going to freak about these!" Pidge sipped her smoothie and had gotten a pamphlet on how to make homemade ones. In English! Keith snorted across from her and leaned back. "By the way, Regris and I got a money reward not long ago and I thought about getting you another game? Your choice. _Hold_ the hug attack until we're not near anything that breaks but my ribcage and spine."

Pidge pouted as she had tensed ready to glomp him but sank down in her chair sipping her smoothie from the straw. "So how many more Voltron shows have you done?"

"...How the quiznak do you know of them?"

"2 live and 3 videos."

"You've been on 2?!"

"Yep! Regris couldn't stop laughing at one video thou. Thace and Ulaz just led me there under the impression we were on mission. Antok would upload new videos on my tablet when he thinks I don't know about it but Regris told me once."

Pidge groaned into the table. "Voltron on Ice... Just kill me..." Keith cackled and ruffled her hair before standing.

"Let's find your Earth store."

Pidge downed her smoothie and hugged his arm dragging him towards it and while she looked around at the games Keith walked up to the store owner asking quietly if his order was finished and the alien nodded, showing it and it been made according to the schematics. Keith was glad he had told Thace the idea and the other Blade had made a easy and simple sketch and all Keith needed was an Altean plug. He had just paid and slipped it into his pouch when Pidge came over with some video, card and board games and bounced on the spot as they were paid and put in a bag.

"There we go. Sadly I have to fly you back to the Castle now." Keith smiled in sympathy at the pout she gave but followed him to his ship. "When will you visit again?"

"Don't know yet."

**000**

Shiro got the alert just as they finished and grinned. "They're in the pod hanger! Are we done?"

"Almost!" Matt ran around placing down colorful wrapped boxes and looked around like a man possessed. "Dude chill before you drop." Lance said as he helped carry in the food and passed Matt. "I missed her 15th birthday! If I miss this one I'll airlock myself out of the ship."

"No you're not." Shiro lightly hit him on top the head like in the Garrison.

Allura turned the lights off just as Hunk lit the the last number candle and after a minute the door opened hearing Pidge ramble walking backwards talking to Keith whom stopped. "Keith?" Pidge watched him before turning and then slowly walked up to the table with the cake.

_Happy Birthday Pidge!_

Looking back at her space brother she found him smiling slightly. "You were in on this. That's why you were at the Mall." She asked as Green slipped under her free arm purring and then licked her cheek.

"Yeah. They figured you'd out them sooner or later so I spared their nerves." The lights came on and they all called surprise in a way that wouldn't frighten her and the first hug victims were Hunk and Lance, both still covered in cake mix, then Matt and Shiro and lastly Allura and Coran. Keith had had his fair share of hugs from her today but that didn't stop Lance and Hunk from dragging him into the room demanding he stayed a bit longer despite his protests.

Pidge showed the games she got and then Keith tossed the little box. "You three better not strangle me for getting you this." With her fellow Garrison cadets they opened the box, Hunk's eyes widen before he ran to find the console cables, connected the red, white and yellow ends and then found an Altean outlet...

They all fit perfectly.

Matt, Shiro and Allura had to jump in to stop them from making Keith-Goo as the trio launched at him with joyful screams and tears as he hid behind Coran laughing. "I think I broke them and they won't stop playing for a while."

"I don't mind the downtime activity!" Shiro called holding Lance off the floor.

Pidge slipped out of Matt's arms and collided into Keith.

**000**

Keith looked down at his Blade caller seeing Thace's message and slipped down to the pod hanger for the second stage of his gift. Thace helped Sam down and Keith made a lazy salute at him. "Commander Holt."

"Keith! You made to space after all." Sam copied the move and then clasped his hands behind his back. "Thace gave me the short and quick version of how you got here and I heard Shiro crashed on Earth but ended up in space just as quick?"

"Yeah and we found Matt recently too. Your arrival here is a reason too. Katie's turning 16 today."

Sam's brows flew up. "That would mean the Kerberos team as been missing a whole year? Two even?" Keith nodded and then looked at Thace. "I'll be back soon if they ever let me out of their sight after this one. I have my ship."

"I'll let Kolivan know you might come back alive or not. I'm mostly leaning towards 'Not'." Thace jumped into his ship and left the Castle of Lions as Keith led Sam to the dining room and Sam stopped behind one side of the door while Keith leaned against it.

"Pidge? Got you one more gift. Actually it's a joined one between you, Matt and Shiro."

Pidge moved the spoon out her mouth and swallowed while Shiro and Matt looked at him. "What do you mean?" The latter asked.

Keith's finger twitched under his crossed arm and Sam understood the signal. "I think he refers to having found me during his Blade missions." Sam revealed himself and they got halfway into the room before his kids were over him and Shiro attacked Keith muttering about not deserving him and thanking him for finding Sam. Pidge untangled from her father and once again attached to Keith and just cried as words were lost to her right now while Matt pulled Sam up to greet Shiro.

Lance, Hunk, Coran and Allura stayed behind a bit before Matt beacon them over and introduced them all. Pidge migrated between her father and Keith after that and they got to try out the new games well into the night cycle. Coran had fixed a room for Sam and Keith entered his but told them he would be gone by the time they woke up.

He wasn't at all surprised when Matt and Pidge entered his room later and hugged that crap out of him. Matt kept saying he was never going to forget this and that their Mom would absolutely freak when they told her about Keith getting her family back to her, Keith tapped a little device on Matt's cheek and smirked.

"I now know for sure I will never make it back to Blade HQ after you've watched this with your Dad." The Holts looked at it before nearly identical eyes widen and had the same shocked face.

"No..."

"Dude you fucking didn't- You got close to Earth and-"

Keith revealed even more devices with names on them and Matt sank on his knees in tears while Pidge bawled into Keith's t-shirt and he hugged her back just as tight. "I figured I'd reveal all this now in case something happens to me. Blade or Paladin." Poor choice of words at that moment but they both understood.

Matt said they would watch the Holt one later with their Dad and set to hand out the others while Pidge snuggled in with Keith.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou..." She rambled into his chest as her tears wouldn't stop and he held her tight.

"Happy birthday little space sister."

Pidge gave a sound between sob and laugh and buried her face into his chest. She had to treasure the sound of his beating heart before he was gone again.

**000**

He was safe at the Blade of Marmora base when the video call came and it exploded. Kolivan had even jumped then and later commented that he wasn't sure he should return Keith to Voltron for their next 10 human lives and Keith shrugged. "I may have a short fuse but I'm damn good at making people I care about happy. And by the way, sorry that I get in later all the time."

"I finally know the reason and also why Ulaz and Thace followed you."

"You what?!"

Ulaz completely ignored him but Thace threw a teasing smile his way. Keith frowned at them and got back to his video call with Voltron and their vows never to ever let him go even when they got back to Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i struggled to make this stay a happy one and not use s4e6 but goddamnit it's hard because the thoughts of their love for Keith and what his death would do haunts me! Like who else was traumatized when he almost did a kamikaze faceplant into that damn barrier?!


	15. Lion Snuggles and Mice Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mice and Lion shenanigans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask me what possessed me to type it, but I love it xD

Black really hated the Galra for what her current paladin had been through. She liked Red's paladin because he was as fiercely protective of Black's paladin as she was. But because of their links Black would know when the nightmares tormented her cub and finally one night she had enough. She opened her eyes to find that her trick had worked and spread her wings to stretch them and ruffle the feathers before moving through the corridors and stopped when Green tumbled into her hind leg.

Black felt a sting in her tail and found Red hanging from it and with a cheeky glint in her eye nom harder on the tail. Black rolled her eyes and picked up Green by the scuff of her neck and moved again with Blue and Yellow trotting after, they stopped when Hunk appeared from one hall on one of his patrols when he couldn't sleep and once the coast was clear they moved again and Yellow slipped into Hunk's room, Blue into Lance's.

Green tilted her little body to one door and Black understood it as Pidge's and the door hissed open and gently disposed of her sister onto Pidge's chest and bit the blanket to move it over the girl, it took a few tries before Green got the glasses off and the mice saved Pidge's work before pushing the laptop onto the caterpillars whom moved the laptop to the surprisingly clean desk, then tilted themselves in a bow and the mice saluted.

Black nodded and moved outside the room with the mice running back to Allura's room and Black stepped into Keith's room. She licked his cheeks from the tears and lifted her tail to have Red drop onto it and moved so she was under the blanket and Keith's arm and his frown gradually faded. His knife had slipped from his hand and Black picked it up carefully to move it under his pillow and not once did he wake up.

Nodding to Red and slipping out the Head lion moved to her paladin's room and as she walked closer her form became smaller till she jumped up and prodded the bed until she lay on Shiro's heaving chest and poked his cheek with her wet nose.

_'Calm your self cub. You are safe. You are no prisoner. Your family is here.'_

Slowly her comfort was recognized and Shiro stopped thrashing and Black's purring and warmth kept any other nightmares away.

**000**

Shiro liked to wake up and find Black had gone from giant robot to size changing comfort that could walk right beside him. This morning was no different as he shifted to his side and buried his face in her fur and Black purred before they fell in a more lighter sleep hearing the rest walk past his door and a growl or meow.

There was knocking a minute later and Keith poke his head in, Shiro looked over his shoulder to see Red purring in Keith's arms and her ears would twitch when he scratched between the ears. "Shiro? It's 9:30AM."

"Thanks Keith - _yawning-_ I'll be right there... Once Black finds it fitting to get off me." Shiro moved to look at him better and Red jumped down from her paladin's arms, ran over the floor and bounced up on the bed and-

Black's head shot up with a confused rumbled and moved her tail to find Red munching on it once again. Keith stood hands pressed over his mouth and Shiro blinked at the kitten sized Red lion. "Okay, it's going to be one of those hilarious mornings." Black finally moved off him and changed her size so her head was up to Shiro's elbow when he stood up and walked out with Red still hanging from her tail and Keith laughed.

"I'll see you in the dining hall. And if you have a razor you might make an appointment with it and your jaw."

"Very funny Firebug."

Those who claimed Keith didn't joke were clearly out of their minds. Shiro did shave thou and dressed in his normal outfit and while he would do a set of pushups he could do them later and headed for the dining hall.

Hilarious morning indeed.

Chaos was everywhere and Shiro saw a light blue tail poking out of Black's mouth and Plachu on its back laughing.

Ah, the mice and Black had gone with those pranks again.

Chulatt had done it several times while Shiro was watching so he knew all about it. The hilarious thing was the others didn't know which was why Keith was sitting on the floor and Pidge on Black trying to pry her mouth open to make her spit out Chulatt. Lance and Hunk were as far away they could get holding their own lions, Allura had fainted in a chair and Coran was fanning her with a cloth, the mice, Red and Green were behind Keith watching Voltron's arms try bend the jaws open of the head Lion.

Finally Platt had deemed the chaos had gone on long enough and looked up at Shiro whom smiled and looked at his lion.

"Black. Let Chulatt out."

_Phew._

Chulatt went splat in Keith's face and he fumbled trying to catch the little mouse and then turned his back to the lion glaring at her after bundling Chulatt in his red jacket and Pidge flopped limp on Black sighing in relief. "What a way to remind us they are not tame and that the cat-mouse thing also applies in Space!" She panted as Chulatt poke out from the bundle and Keith hid it again.

"Get back in there or you're gobbled up again!"

Shiro lost it finally and slid down the wall clinging his sides while everyone besides the mice and three of the lions looked at him like he was insane. "Uh Keith... Please fix Shiro?" Hunk stammered out but Keith was slowly scooting away from his friend. "Shiro you okay?"

"They've done this several times before." He gasps out once he had enough air and the mice all have wide cheeky grins and then Chulatt who pokes out again with a happy squeak. Pidge looks upside down at Black from her spot on the bigger lions back. "You sure about that?" She ask slowly and looks at Shiro.

"They may have performed it a few times in front of me." To cheer him up when he was down. Allura finally came to and breath in relief seeing Keith's jacket move and Chulatt poking out again and then glared at Shiro. "Please keep your lion away from the mice!"

"Aren't they yours and we just stumbled into all this?" Shiro countered as all the mice climbed his bent knee and the arm it rested on and Chulatt finally slipped from Keith's jacket and he panicked as it ran past Black and-

Nom!

"KYAAA!"

"SHIRO!"

Shiro snorted as Black gave a rumble and something that had to be a smirk, the black paladin carefully looked under the red wing and found the little blue mouse hiding there giggling and climbed his leg and up to his shoulder while Pidge and Keith were back to the 'pry open the lions mouth' positions.

Shiro got up to sit at the table and Coran counted the mice and then glared at Shiro. "She never got the mouse did she?"

They all looked and Chulatt was waving from Shiro's head and the mice, Red and Green lion were a wriggling mess laughing at them all. "Keith, Pidge. Let go before Black really bites you."

They both looked back and forth and then bolted away with Pidge hanging from Keith's back and him holding his knife in reverse grip leaving his jacket on the floor between them and Black smirked again and changed to the size of a cat flying up to the table laying her chin on Shiro's left hand. Lance collapsed back in his seat with Blue still munching on something fruit like in his arms. "Way to wake everyone up in the morning! First they are like this, then Pidge screams our blood to ice and Keith dives and starts trying to bend Black's jaws open! Only when Coran noticed the tail did the rest of us freak out!"

"Delayed reaction much? You might want to work on that." Shiro points out and blinks at the green going flying past his face and the back draft flops his white tuff up for a second before it fall to his forehead again and he sees the goo covering Lance's face dripping down on Blue who doesn't even care about the goo on her own head and licks her paladin.

Pidge stands with a spoon still on a used catapult move hanging from Keith's back and Coran holding a plate of food goo out to her and Keith is failing to cover his grin and his whole body quakes in laughter while Allura tries to process what just happened. Hunk blinks with a fork halfway to his mouth and the rest of the lions has stopped caring what is going on, Shiro blinks again and side looks at Pidge.

"I was referring to Lance only about that reaction bit..."

"Not the way Keith is losing it." She spits back and jumps down before she went down with the sinking ship that was Keith trying to hold onto his sanity. Coran finally asks him to breath before they had to place him in a cryo pod and Shiro rolled his eyes.

It was fun to forget the nightmares and have some fun with his found family. Human, Altean and animals.


	16. Come Back I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith manages to eject before he hits the shield. But he tacks off a couple of years from every ones lifespan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so maybe Keith's kamikaze move scared me more then i thought T.T
> 
> Warning for swearing and Shiro losing his shit. No not on Slav.
> 
> No clones.  
> \---  
> *S2 finale Shiro didn't disappear. in this little chapter time line the paladin switch still happened but Keith wasn't present for S3E4 - Hole in the Sky as he was on a Blade mission and Coran didn't have the heart to inform that 'hey Voltron disappeared into a black holeish thing! I can't contact them!'.
> 
> The kid would have died on the spot.

  _"Nexzela has stopped!"  
_

_"Haggar's retreated!"_

_"Someone find Keith!"_

_"Matt... There no way he survived that. Nothing survives a barrier impact."_

Voltron slowed until drifting letting the words washed over the Paladins as they stared ahead. Pidge breathed faster before screaming and disconnected from Voltron, Green speed towards the Coalition, Red was drifting and nothing Lance did worked so Black toed the smaller lion after the Green one and they arrived to wreaks floating around them.

The Castle of Lions was there and Coran was scanning like a lunatic with Slav calling in the background. Matt, some rebels and Blades were tearing some fighters calling for Keith before moving to the next. Antok was seen bending a fighter open and Kolivan roared every time he didn't find anything, kicking away from the fighter he was on to the next and used his blade to cut though the view screen.

Shiro looked around himself finding Green just hovering looking at something on a large piece of metal and he ran to the back grabbing a device that would project a field around a person should their suits be damaged and one of the extra helmets, Black opened her hatch in the chest and Shiro jetpacked over to Pidge who was shaking Keith.

Half his mask was gone revealing tuffs of hair, pale skin and a closed eye. His suit was torn in several places and metal was lodged just under his chest and one small in his leg. Shiro acted fast placing the device on Keith's chest and a blue aura appeared around him and then the helmet was placed on after Pidge got the mask off.

Holding Keith in his arms Shiro whispered encouragement and Pidge sent the coordinates to Matt and the Castle and by now the rest of the paladins had gathered around them begging Keith to wake up. The blades held themselves in the back and some moved as Matt came jetting past them landing by Voltron and grasped Keith's arms.

"Hey! Keith come on! What happened to my 'fist in the face' moment? You promised me and Shiro would get one each for leaving you, remember?" Matt asked and saw the metal still in his friend and pulled out a scanner, it reveled that the metal hadn't nicked anything important and was near his spine. The one in the leg wasn't to deeply in and the right shoulder already had a long scar, a bruise was developing under Keith's fringe however.

"He struck his head on something, this shard here hasn't nicked anything. It's safe to get him to the Castle and into a cryo pod." Shiro nodded and carefully picked up their Red Paladin and looking up at his lion. "Can you teleport us?"

_-I can. Stand ready.-_

Matt held onto his friends and in a flash of light they were in the cryo room with Coran waiting and they set to remove the metal bits, change Keith out of the suit and into a cryo suit and gently placed him in a pod. Coran had long ago set it to understand Keith's Hybrid genes and breathed out. "I can't tell how long he has to be in there but it's a miracle he survived. He must have ejected before impact but was caught in the blast."

"His mask was damaged on the right side when Pidge and I found him." Shiro held up the extra helmet and the aura device, Coran nodded at the quick thinking and held it up. "The funny thing is that this is the first time this has been used. Pidge is quite the genius!"

"Pidge made that?!"

"Better question is what hasn't she made? This is heaven for her." Shiro snorted as he closed Matt's dropped chin and the rebel turned to him. "And you have been to an alternate reality!"

"...Yeeeah... One where the version of me got shot saving us. At least that's what Lance told me since I remained behind with the lions trying to get hold of the Castle. ***** "

Matt grumbled missing out on the fun stuff when everyone rushed in and they both caught Pidge from smacking into the cryo pod, she did bite Shiro's right hand to no one's surprise. "Okay you are really spending to much time with your lion." Lance looked at her avoiding a kick in the face and stumbled into Hunk.

"What's the status on Kieth?" Allura walked over to Coran whom hugged her briefly before pulling up the scans. "Nothing majorly was internally damaged and he has quite the bruise on his head, we're guessing he ejected in time but was caught in the blast. A few quintants to about a movement should have him patched and well to be released."

Hunk dropped Lance holding up his hands. "Okay great, that's so great to hear but one question what did he do to end up in this mind state and why was there a large metal shard stuck inside our Red paladin and-"

"Hunk breath, you're going to hyperventilate" Shiro said calmly still holding their peeved Green paladin and Hunk breathed. "But he is asking the right question," Looking at Matt and then Coran, both looking away from them. "What was Keith doing?"

Matt sighed as he let go of Pidge's leg and walked away, resting his head on the glass that separated him from Keith. "Our weapons did nothing to the particle barrier on Haggar's ship, she was powering up Naxzela from a distance and Keith made a move to attack, once I pointed out the weapons he said ' _Maybe not with our weapons'_ and charged against the shield with his own fighter. I swear my heart left my chest and up my throat as I screamed for him not to! Then the blast came, nothing and then the shield cracked and shattered."

There was a metal _dunk_ behind him and Matt guessing Shiro's body had gone slack enough to drop Pidge on the floor and they were all staring at him and Keith, then Lance started chanting 'no' and 'not true' while Hunk ran off to lose his meals, no one could blame him. Lance ran to Allura and got the blue bayard from her holster and Coran briefly let the pod open so Lance could clutch the red bayard in Keith's hand and moved it so it was the first thing he would see waking up.

Allura did nothing to stop him and happily informed Blue that her Lancey Lance was her paladin again. The Blue lion ended up under Black's weight in her eagerness, sure the biggest lion understood but she didn't have to shake the whole castle. Lance thanked for his time with Red and ordered her to try get her link with Keith restored and talk to him!

**000**

Shiro entered the cryo room six earth days later to find Pidge still in the beanbag typing on her laptop and Matt snoozing beside her with a tablet on his chest and drool on the corner of his mouth.

"Glad to see he's very much the same. Despite our two years of slight hell." Shiro sat beside her and Pidge looked at her brother. "Yeah, on the holidays when he came home and the three of you would fall asleep skyping he was the same. I'm guessing you were in Japan then?"

"Sometimes, other times I told my folks I'd spend it with Kieth and Matt stayed too saying that his later flight to Italy, when and if you spent Holidays there, was canceled and would stay at the Garrison. Your mom took the excuse but Sam didn't, he knew why and let it be. We'd sometimes lounge in one of our rooms watching movies, playing games and talk future missions or help Keith study. Then came Kerberos and all this... Sometimes I wonder if he's the same Keith we unwillingly left behind." Pidge saved her work and closed her laptop drawing her legs up to pay full attention to his stories.

"Lance and Hunk always asks why you two are so close and I've wanted to tell them but- I wasn't sure I was allowed. I knew a few stories with you and Matt, before Keith appeared but- I'm glad he did. Thanks to him finding the Blue Lion's cave I'm in Space, I've found my brother and soon I can find Dad. Keith promised he would help."

"...Six days ago you were hard core on killing him for his stunt."

" _-yawn-_ He's not safe from that, trust me. We're both going to beat him up and stuff him back in the pod. Care to join?" Matt stretched and slumped back down rubbing his eyes. "Heh, keep forgetting the glasses are on Pidge's nose."

"You spent an hour on the Kerberos ship looking for them." Shiro snorted at the memory.

"While you and Dad were laughing until the old man (Dad, not you Shiro) reminded me where I had left them!" Matt glared at his friend as Pidge was a giggling mess clutching her sides and Shiro blep at him, they all jumped when a hissing noise sounded and looked up in time to see the glass fade from Keith's pod.

Matt and Shiro dove in time to catch their friend and lowered him to the floor. "Keith? Hey bud come back to us..." Matt pushed the fringe back to check the bruise and pressed his fingers under the jaw on the wonderfully beating pulse, Shiro had his human hand pressed to Keith's breathing chest and hid his face in the black hair. "Come on Keith. Come back."

Pidge got up to place a blanket on Keith's shoulders and then to go get Coran and decided to aimlessly search instead of using the coms. She felt the three of them needed a moment alone. Once she was gone Keith seemed to return to the world of the living and blinked slowly to adjust his sight and the blurs above him became clearer.

"Keith? You back buddy?" Matt asked as Shiro adjusted them a bit better, Keith's eyes shifted to each of them for a moment and they waited for him to fully come to as he sat up instead of all his weight being on Shiro's right arm.

"Matt? Shiro?"

Matt fell to his butt in relief and chuckled. "Shiro gets hugs and I get to see you blow up? Not cool pal..."

"Don't get alien-napped." Keith grumbled.

"Touché." Matt moved closer and grunted when an arm wrapped around his neck tightly and beside him Shiro got the same treatment. "Jerks... You left me..."

"You almost left us, we're even." Shiro grunted and Matt glared at him. "Are you trying to get punched in fa-"

SMACK!

Matt landed on his back holding his jaw and Shiro picked himself up rubbing his cheek. "There it is. Happy?"

"Yep, not a dream, that's Keith which brings us to this." With that Matt flung a right fist hard in Keith's gut and Shiro grabbed the front of the cryo suit.

"What in all fricking hell were you thinking?! Even ejecting like you did you almost di- You were dead!" Keith hadn't had a pulse when they reached him since the suit had tears in several places and once the helmet did it's work Keith was back with them enough to be placed in the pod. "What else could I do? Voltron was trapped-"

"We got out just before the reactors turned on thanks to Lance understanding it first. I though they were a bunch of EMPs and then over radio I hear Matt screaming his throat to death for you not to do something and later I find out you had rammed your ship into the damn barrier!" Shiro's grip slacked now and Matt was rubbing his face phasing around the room.

Keith wasn't looking at them. "I had to try... Haggar was charging Naxzela from her ship and anything within 10 galaxies would have been destroyed... Victory or-"

SMACK!

Matt swung around to find Shiro's left hand in a fist and Keith on the floor with a split lip and ran to a cabinet getting a cloth and creme as Shiro visibly shook where he stood. "YOU ARE NOT PART OF A FUCKING CHESSBOARD KEITH! You are part of Voltron! Part of this family and the only. fucking. reason we stayed sane when we were captured!"

"Takashi I think he gets it. Time snap out of it and drown of guilt." Matt said not much later Shiro collapsed on his knees clutching Keith whom stayed turned to Matt getting his lip treated until he was placed in the pod again for the lip and the ache in his midsection.

**000**

Out of the cryo pod _again_ and resting in his room Keith lay in bed slowly rubbing his thumb over Chulatt's head when Rover and the other mice arrived and Rover brought out a small screen of the Castleship bridge. Voltron was having a small argument with Kolivan and Shiro dove forward to stop Matt from taking a bo staff whack at Kolivan's head and Keith sat up watching with more attention.

Hunk was easily holding Lance back and Allura was on her knees with Coran holding her, it wasn't often he had seen the princess cry. Pidge hugged one caterpillar and one was bonking on her cheek and then landed on her head, Rover beeped something and then Keith could hear them talking.

They had found out about his actions and this was not what he expected.

Keith got up slowly and gathered them all. "Let's go to Red's hanger, after everything I forgot she might want to have a piece of her mind with me as well." With a hand on the wall he carefully made his way down to her hanger and found her being pinned under Black, Blue and Yellow while Green was standing by Red's head snarling something.

Blinking at the scene Keith and the mice were to surprised to do anything and Keith tapped Rover, after a beep Keith spoke up. "You mind getting off Red? I wanna talk to her alone." Black glared at him and slowly they stepped off the Red lion whom shook herself like a cat and lowered her head, Keith pressed his hands on her muzzle.

"Open up... I may not be dressed for it but one spin around the planet should be enough?" With a rumble her jaws opened and the mice clung to the t-shirt and Rover bonked into Keith's back.

Black t-shirt and red pajamas pants may not be the ideal dress code for flying but Keith decided to overlook it this time as he slowly wrapped his hands around the lit up sticks and felt their bond be restored because he allowed it. Red turned to the hanger doors that were sealed until Black's eyes lit up and the doors opened.

**000**

He lost track of time drifting around the planet talking to Red, the mice asleep in a drawer with a folded blanket and Rover offline in another drawer holding a pillow. The pilot seat was tilted back a bit as Red piloted herself until landing on a cliff big enough to hold her and laid down looking at the setting sun.

_-Are we in agreement not to repeat it?-_

_'Yes.'_

_-Good. While you were gone and then in the cryo pod, pain radiated off them all. They worried you would not wake up. They are fighting to get you back.-  
_

_'Aren't I getting a say in this? I can make my own choices!'_

_-One of your choices nearly took you from us forever. Finding you drifting and scared in Space is one thing, the other place you almost went to is another. Not even I can find you there.-_

It took a moment for Keith to understand what she meant and once again shivers went down his spine and her soothing only did so much.

_-But you are here. Where you belong and should have stayed, and I will not let you go again.-_

Keith brought his hand up holding the bayard and he felt a rush of happiness run through the lion. _'It was in my hand when I woke up and I don't know why... Lance is the-"_

_-The cub of my previous paladin has stepped down from being a paladin, Blue has regained hers. You are the only one left. Come back.-_

Pulse picking up and heart hammering, Keith swallowed and wiped his eyes. The mice woke up and ran up to comfort him as a tear hit Chulatt and she rubbed her head squeaking at him and made a funny face that he laughed to and looked up to his side where an astral form of Red, with fur that felt soft under his hand and her wet nose pressed to his forehead, he sniffed when she licked his cheeks and purred at him as she laid her chin on his head and he wrapped his arms around her.

_'Can I really be your pilot again?'_

_-I want no one else.-_

_'...'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i fricking dared to stop at such a sweet moment.


	17. Trinkets of Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith finds gifts that reminds the Paladins of home. (don't worry he was far away when they found the gifts)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place um... between S4 E 5& 6...
> 
> so yes i'm horrible because next they know Keith tried to go splat against the bloody shield! 
> 
> no clone gibberish.

Keith had been with The Blades for some time now and they were on a lot more planets then Voltron had time for, he often found items that had been on the Kerberos ship and hoarded what he could. Finding all of Shiro and Matt's things would have them strangle hug him and Sam's things for Pidge would surely end him as she freaked out of joy.

The Blade members he was grouped with understood and as they secretly uploaded Voltron shows on his datapad, they also looked for the items and Sam's whereabouts with the help of undercover Blades. At the moment Keith's team were on a planet with a species that had the longest life span Keith had ever heard of and it had him thinking when he saw the stand with dried herbs.

"Would you happen to have Juniberry flowers? It's a flower that used to grow on planet Altea."

The elders looked at his unmasked face and smiled. "As a matter of fact we do. Would you like them fresh, dried or seeds?"

Keith beamed. "Fresh and seeds if possible. Princess Allura is sure to be happy to have something of her home planet."

"The Altean princess lives? That is wonderful news! And Coran? We have something of his that we had no chance of returning." Keith nearly lost his calmness and grinned widely.

"I can deliver it for him! Add a note too!" The fresh Juniberry flowers were carefully packed and Coran's box was secured before all was loaded and Keith found a small pendent with a puzzle piece with the word _Best_ and the letter M stamped on a silver button hanging next to the puzzle piece and quickly removed the one hanging from his own neck.

Keith's had the letter K and the word _Forever._

Both pieces fit and there was space for a third. Meaning it was Matt friendship pendant. He was allowed to bring it as well and The Blade ship left the planet for Voltron's next destination and Keith thought of the best way to give everything he had found and set to write letters to sneak on board while the Voltron show was underway.

Sure he was a jerk but he preferred to breath another day. His group helped him get the Juniberry flower bush to Allura's room and he set the sealed letter on them and then they left the box in Coran's room. Sam Holt's things were left in Pidge's room and then a bag in Shiro's once he was sure his friendship pendant was in it with the puzzle piece word _Friends_ and the letter S hanging on it.

For Hunk Keith had found seeds of Earth vegetables and spices and left them on his bed and for Lance a device that could copy Earth weather and its smells, he knew Lance missed the rain and the bathrooms connected to their rooms were big. Lance would absolutely use it.

After that he quickly ran to the ship and they departed the planet since the lions were in the show so he couldn't say hi to them. But he had just arrived to the Blade HQ when one member tapped his shoulder and handed a tablet with a blinking corner, Keith took it with a nod and ran to his room and set it on the table. With a deep breath and a tap on the datatpad real life sized hologram Team Voltron in tears appeared and started talked over each other when they saw him.

Allura and Pidge were a mess, Coran was sitting with his face covered holding the letter, Hunk and Lance were hugging and crying and Shiro were switching between English and Japanese crying holding the small bag in his left hand and Keith merely grinned at them all.

"I see you found my gifts and no I will not get my skinny ass there because Allura would snap me in half."

 _"There are healing pods for that! We'll just shove you in one each time we hug you to death!"_ Lance pointed with runny nose and tears dripping from his cheeks. _"What the hell man you can't just get stuff like this and not stick around for it!"_

"Eh, I'm sure the mice sent me the video of your reactions." Said mice saluted and Chulatt jumped on a touch button and his datapad lit up with a new message. Keith smiled and crossed his arms. "But seriously are you okay Allura?"

_"You found actual Juniberry flowers! How can I not be?!"_

"Diiid you find your Altean planet model in the middle of the bush?"

_"...You...Did not..."_

Keith smirked and covered his ears when she exploded in joy and swore he would really need a healing pod the next time he was there and he silently swore himself to ask Kolivan not to let him near the Castle of Lion. Next was Pidge in a crying mess holding her father's watch and Matt waving his pendant and Keith noticed that Shiro looked through his bag and cried out in triumph when his pendant was pulled out and the two present ones were joined and Keith showed his own and the three, one physical and two holograms joined into one.

The three heart pieces formed _Best Friends Forever._

 _"You seriously looked for them?"_ Matt wiped his eyes as they separated their pendants and Shiro put his on. Keith swiped his hand over Matt's head and the hologram fizzled out for a second. "What kind of question is that? Of course I did! Once I found yours I was hard set to find Shiro's! Which apparently was already found thanks to some of the Blades sooo this wasn't really all me."

 _"Doesn't matter, you recovered the things we brought with that we treasured and when these were taken... I'm serious I broke a guard's face."_ Shiro fingered his and Matt shivered. _"Yeah I know what you snapping looks like, acting or not!"_

_"Pah! You should see him near Slav!"_

_"Lance! Don't even suggest it!"_

_"Can I tell?"_

_"No you're not Katie."_

Keith chuckled and spoke with Hunk asking if he had tried the spices yet but Hunk was crying of joy because the seeds had already been multiplied, planted and harvested. The milkshakes had been heaven and Hunk promised to make one for Keith because they had found a fruit that was like cocoa and Keith revealed that they had the actual cocoa fruit on the ship now. Thou seed form.

Hunk forgot he was talking to a hologram-Keith on his end and ended up on the floor behind Keith.

"If I happen to be near the Castleship will you guys swear not to break me?" He asked and they glared at him with smiles, tears and running noses. Coran finally looked up still clutching the letter and opened the box beside him. _"These items here were a trinket from the Paladins of Old and Allura's mother, as a sort of friendship symbol the three of you have. This here may be the only thing from Allura's mother now. Thank you Keith for finding them! I quite forgot I left them there for safe keeping."_

Allura broke in tears again and fell to her knees covering her face and thanked Keith in a mantra.

Making his family so happy was all Keith had aimed for.

"I have to go now. I'll try catch you guys later!"

He waved with a smile and when Shiro and Matt reached out for him the call was over.

**000**

Watching the shield shatter after Lotor's blast Keith was blinking back to awareness and ran his hands over his face. That memory appearing as he was heading towards the shield had done a huge number on him and he pulled his pendant out, the top right piece of the silver heart with the word _Forever_ shined in his hand and his hearing returned again with Matt howling in the radio and then Shiro demanding what happened and why Keith wasn't answering.

Hadn't Matt and the rebels seen Lotor blast the shield?

Speak of the devil his voice soon filled their coms and asked they finally spoke and for the best spot for it. Allura was quiet before giving the location and then it was back to where the hell Keith was and what happened to him, Lotor revealed he had seen a Galra fighter head for the shield, Matt screamed that it had been Keith and a tick later Voltron was fricking there!

Keith forgot Black could teleport but to teleport in that size?! Scariest of the lions!

He yelped when Voltron moved on its own and its red arm chomping on his Galra fighter looking at him and he chuckled. "Hey Red... Sorry for the scare if you felt the bond..."

_-We did cub. And if you EVER do that to me again...-_

"Noted." Keith smiled and jumped when something landed and he got the mask and hood up in time before Shiro cut through the windshield and one arm pulled Keith out into his arms and the rest of Voltron collided into them in tears demanding what the quiznak Keith had been thinking and he asked they return to the ship first before he explained and slumped in Shiro's arms, the adrenalin finally out of him and shock about to set in.

Shiro used his jetpack to return to the now separated lions and entered Black, Keith was still in bridal style hold when the Black paladin sat down and grasped the control sticks.

Keith closed his eyes as his head landed on the older man's shoulder. He must have scared the living daylights out of Shiro.

"The pendant is replaceable but you fucking aren't." Shiro mumbled soon after and Kieth bit the inside of his cheek to bleed a little. "I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking I just acted..."

"Yeah that's what has worried everyone around you. Sure it's great depending on the consequences but if it results in your death... Even the healing pods can't bring you back from the dead..."

Keith thought briefly of the quintessence but quickly stopped. That had been the very thing that turned Zarkon and Honerva if he remembered Coran's tale right. Black landed in her hanger and they had barely left her maw before Keith was gasping for breath as Voltron attacked him and once again talking over each other. Pidge was hugging his waist he knew that much, Lance was on his back and Hunk was lifting them all, Allura had extended her arms and Shiro was grasping the one free hand Keith had. Matt and Coran came running and Keith was thrown into their embrace instead.

Being loved kinda hurt as more hug bruises was made.

**000**

Vargas later or if it was a quintant later Keith was in the dining room trying the new flavored milkshake and praised Hunk whom hugged him in tears and was set back in his seat and Hunk left the older Garrison trio alone to talk. Matt sat on the table top beside him ranting out his scolding and Shiro was on Keith's other side resting his head in his metal hand and fingering his pendant in his left before lifting it and eyed it.

"You know you almost took a piece of this with you right?"

Matt clapped his mouth shut and Keith gave himself deep brain freeze and they gave him a moment to recover. "Y-Yeah... That thought came later when I was drifting after the shield was blown up... Then during the night I had different scenarios running through my head that you only found the knife and my pendant, if it even survives such heat..."

"Let's not find out please?" Matt begged and slid into a chair removing his and Shiro lifted the one from his neck, Keith eyed them as they were held up and slowly he removed his own and let the puzzle heart pieces unite.

_Best Friends Forever._

Hugging Keith between them the two of them made a new promise.

To return home _with_ Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i googled about friendship pendants for 3 ppl and found the easiest one to describe :) The silver heart is split in three and connects like a jigsaw and there's a separate silver button with a letter stamped on it.
> 
> Matt's part is the top left of the heart with the word Best.
> 
> Shiro's part is the bottom of the heart with the word Friends.
> 
> Keith's part is the top right of the heart with the word Forever.


	18. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge, Matt, Hunk and Lance visits Japan where Shiro and Keith moved after the war. They get a furry surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was waaay before S5

Lance sighed in relief stepping through the gate and stretched his arms up. "Sweet relief! And this is the first time I've been to Japan!" He looked around for some readable sighs when he spotted black hair with white fringe and bolted towards it. Shiro turned in time to catch him and trapped him in a head lock. "Does jet lag ever get hold of you?"

"Nope, I was mostly asleep the whole plane ride! Hey where's mullet?" Lance looked around as he got free with his hand still on his head trying to fix his hair.

"At the house setting things up with Hunk, he arrived the day before yesterday."

"Oh, and the Holts?"

Shiro dug something from his inner pocket and brought out a folded note, studied it and looked at the signs. "We need to go this way. They had visited relatives in Italy and are flying from there to here. How many hours that is I have no idea but they must be pretty zombie when they land."

As they waited for Lance's bags they caught up on their post-Galra war lives, they had returned home to Earth 8 months earlier and Shiro had left the Galaxy Garrison behind. Sam apparently stayed but not Matt and the others, Lance was stuck at home with his family never leaving him out of their sight until they allowed this trip because Shiro paid the ticket and the gang wanted him there.

Hunk had found a job that fit his engineering skills, Matt and Pidge in a small lab that sure they thought the siblings were crazy but they had been around aliens for 4 years and needed time to settle back among boring human and stone age technology. Shiro and Keith had moved to Japan in a secluded house but still closet to the city, Keith working as a photographer and Shiro helped with the equipment and photos. The money was good and it was something Shiro could do when he wasn't a search and rescue pilot, with his PTSD still haunting him it was agreed that helping Keith's work was a good recovery method.

Lance had found a pilot job himself for all flight classes but he mostly did cargo flying, it wasn't much and the controls weren't Blue's but it gave him something to do and get out of the house.

Reaching for his bags they headed for the gate where Pidge and Matt were waiting, Matt on the phone with someone and Pidge on her laptop sitting on a large suitcase with her backpack leaning against it. Lance sneaked up and covered her eyes (her glasses was resting on her head) and she jerked slightly, Matt hugged Shiro still talking in phone and mouthed 'Mom' as he waved the phone for a split second.

Shiro nodded as he crouched in front of Pidge and glanced at Lance. "Hmm... Thin hands, not rough, slightly cold fingers... Lance!"

"Seriously?"

"Keith's warmer and his hands are rough from desert and sword-fighting." She pointed out and once her laptop was off her lap she dove for Shiro. "Hi Shiro! You bored yet of this boring planet?"

"Very. Not as much as Keith but he's found something to do at least." He set her down again and led them to the car and loaded the trunk with their bags, taking the driver seat and Matt diving for the shot gun. Lance and Pidge took the back and Pidge was pressed against the glass the whole ride watching cheery blossoms, the landscape and the buildings. "It's all so beautiful!" She said once removing her nose from the glass and Shiro smiled at the rare view mirror.

Pidge turned to the window again as they drove though a forest and closed her eyes. Even on Earth her connection to Nature was stronger, she opened her eyes and tested her bond with Green which should be severed by now since the lions were sent into hiding again. She felt it getting stronger and looked back at Shiro.

"Guess I owe Keith 20 bucks."

Lance turned from his own window in confusion. "You say something Shiro?"

"Not having an odd feeling?" Lance blinked until his eyes widen and his jaw fell as Shiro turned from the highway and on a path leading to a valley town. He briefly stopped by the grocery store and Pidge skipped after like a over eager kitten and came out some minutes later with colorful bags grinning widely and Shiro laughing. "-sugar poison. At least share with the rest or you'll die." Shiro said as he put the bags in the trunk.

"No promises!" She pokes her head up to look at him over the backseat and Shiro snorts as he shuts the trunk and gets back in the car, by now Matt has finished talking on the phone. "Sorry about that, as you can guess Mom has been overly protective since we returned home." He accepts the water bottle and downs a good half of it. "So how're you?"

"Helping Keith with photography as a PTSD recovery thing but otherwise I'm a search and rescue pilot. I fly the medics to the patient in need and to the hospitals." Shiro replies and looks at Matt briefly. "How's the lab?"

"Besides feeling like an outsider and lab rat? Peachy." Matt grumbled and Pidge groans in the back. "They are incompetent and their tech is slow! I wanna go back to the Castle of Lions! At least Coran likes my ideas and unhealthy creative streak!" She slumps back and Lance pats her shoulder as they look out her window and gaps at the lake and the house by it.

It had a mix of ancient style but also modern feel to it. Koi fishes swimming in the pond/creek that went around the house and under the bridges and Lance had to catch Pidge from falling in and looked around. "Shiro this is awesome and I am so jealous!" Shiro laughs as he gets the trunk open. "Keith didn't know about this when we first moved in and refused to leave it for 3 months, most photos are from around here and then he started to take on jobs that needed a photographer. I help out with the equipment and editing."

The sliding doors on the side of the house are open and on the porch is Hunk leaning against a pole and looking into a room that appears to be the kitchen where they briefly see Keith walk to get something and disappears from view, and then he pokes his head out. "Hey! They finally released you!" He points a small knife with a piece of apple stuck on the blade and Lance threw his free arm up carrying a bag in the other. "Yes! And this place is awesome!"

"Shiro is still hopeless in the kitchen."

A pack of napkins zooms past Lance's head and Keith ducks with a laugh as Shiro stands with his arm still in the position it let go of the pack. Hunk is wiping his tears of laughter and catches Pidge in a hug before downing his drink and helps Keith with the cooking and the others gets free reign to explore. Shiro brings them first to the guest house and slides a door open. "Lance in here with Hunk, Matt next door and Pidge in here." Shiro opens a door opposite and Pidge walks in slowly looking out the open doors with the forest moving in the warm breeze and the small stream moving under her porch where two Koi fishes swim past.

Pidge sits on her knees on a pillow and Shiro sits down beside her. "It's so calm here... Are we still on Earth?"

"Sadly, but most of the things here in the house are Altean. Coran visited once after he made a 'disguise watch' and came down, the lamps works the same as on the ship, the intercom and some other small things. Let's go to the main house- Hunk and Keith should have the dinner ready."

"Please tell me Sushi!"

"That is the only thing I'm allowed to make and some other cold dishes, anything else is Keith." Shiro helps her up and leads them to the dinning room.

**000**

A quick tour of the main house ends in the dining room where the table for what looks like room for 10 people can fit and is set in a floor niche and they sit on soft pillows Keith sets another plate of Makizushi rolls and surrenders to Pidge hugging him tight. The meal is mostly catching up on their lives, the negatives on being back on Earth and the things they miss about space, Keith shows some of his photos he's taken and surrenders a flash drive to Pidge with them. The whole time their phones pings with messages or rings and Lance finally snaps and asks for a Laptop. Matt helps setting up a video call with all their families and flops back on his pillow seat stuffing a Maki roll and Lance leans back.

"Middle of the dinner here! Chill will you?!" Lance exclaims as Kieth is standing taking photos of them all and looks at the screen after each and then sits down again taking the filled plate Hunk hands him and dips the Nigirzushi (rice ball with salmon and/or tuna piece on top) in the soy sauce and listens to Lance, sometimes adding something that has the Cuban throw him the stink glare and someone laughs in the video call. Finally they are allowed to be alone and Pidge looks at Shiro.

"You said Coran visited once? Was Allura with him?"

"No she was still on the ship, he didn't stay long after helping us install the Altean tech in here." Shiro shook his head and digs in on his third round. Hunk was an amazing space cook but the Earth sushi was final ticket to heaven and they laugh at that, Keith gets up to open the slide doors and they enjoy the warm breeze and view. Hunk explains his job but misses working with aliens stuff and it sets off the Holts again and Lance complains about his family's clingy-ness and tells Keith about his pilot job.

It's when they have dessert that the reason for the visit is revealed.

In behind Keith and Shiro tumbles two colorful balls of growling and hissing and smacks to a stop in Shiro's lower back and he looks at them. "Well you sure stayed hidden long. I thought you'd have shown yourself to Hunk at least." Blue looks up at him and tilts her head and Red bounces up on Keith's shoulders glaring at the previous leg of Voltron. The others are gaping and their sushi bits have long fallen off the chop sticks as Lance reaches for Blue whom happily jumps in his arms and rubs her head under his chin.

Pidge jumps when Green appears under Matt's arm and snags a bit from his plate but sticks her tongue out soon after in a grimace that cracks them all. Yellow crawls up Hunk's lap after licking his tears from his face and Black slowly walks in, still the size of a puma with wings but as she gets closer becomes the sizes of a cat with red stripes on her sides and jumps up to Shiro's shoulder and purrs as he runs his hand over her head.

"Also the reason Coran visited. The Lions had stayed in their new hiding places but they missed us just as much so they went back to the Castle, Blue explained to Allura and after taking these forms Coran sought us out. We had lived here about... 5 months I think?" Looking at Kieth whom has his mouth full but jabs a thumb up and then shows one finger. "6 even?" Shiro says in surprise as Keith swallows.

"Yeah you were out I think but Coran stayed long enough to greet you. So the Lions have lived here... What is it, 8 months since we came back to Earth... The lions have been here for 3 months."

Lance unburied his face from Blue's head and wipes his eyes. "And not a single call about it..." He sniffs as Blue headbutts his chin and purrs.

"Blame Shiro this was his idea." Keith instantly points at the man and Red makes a noise that sounds like snickering and Pidge flops back in laughter while Shiro flickers a piece of salmon at Keith. Black shakes her head fondly and jumps off Shiro to lay in the sun spot that trails in and grows in size, soon her sisters are snuggled in her curled form and listens to their paladins.

Lance melts as the dessert and Hunk rubs his neck blushing as Matt inhales his. "Maybe going overboard was good after all Keith."

"You tell me, at this rate I might find the counter again." He jokes as Matt runs past to get a refill and a joyful shout is heard. "Share!" Shiro howls over his shoulder taking his time with his dessert and Pidge enjoys the strawberries from her bowl before she too goes to the kitchen and shrieks.

"What did you do in here?!"

Lance pulls out his spot and sets it on his half finished plate. "Okay curiosity got to strong." He gets up to find the kitchen and the island in the middle is covered in different desserts and sweets and Matt going over them all before picking another. "Dude you're going to die."

"Pidge is helping."

"Oh Matt take one of these!" She holds two of the same and he holds out the plate. "Maybe you'll gain some pounds now."

"It's Hunk masterpieces! Of course I will eat! Keith isn't so bad either but oh my god I love this one! Keith have a cook book ready!"

_"It's on the counter by the coffee machine! Oh and Hunk's face tan has been replaced by pink!"_

The three of them laugh as they join them and Red gets some creme on her nose and goes cross eyed as she looks at it before licking it away before laying her head on Keith's thigh. Her home was with Keith, the lions' home was with their paladins, the paladins was struggling to settle into their new and old homes. Red opened her eyes some time later and found that they had moved to the plush sofa group and was watching a slideshow of some photo's Keith had taken either on the job or private.

Soon they started a movie and like in the Castle they fell asleep not long after bundled together sleeping beside or on each other but this time Red and her sisters were warmly snuggled with their paladins.

Even if their fur color pattern were out of this world.


	19. Birthday: Shiro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro birthday!! prepare to lose your teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was literally uploaded 2/28 2018 on FF.

"Seriously Keith?" Matt laughs as his best friend drags him through a space mall, both in civvies and off duty. Keith spins around with a grin. "Yes I'm serious! Do you remember the poor excuse of a cake we tried to make?"

"And settled for a silly cupcake with an even sillier candle on it? Yes I do remember it." Matt nods and looks around. "Do you think they have something like that here?"

"Not really no but I'm hoping for something human edible." They walk slowly to not miss anything, reads the signs with the help of handheld translators and asks around. One alien points to the upper floor and tells them to go left from the lift and 5 stores down that floor. They find a store that seems staff empty until the storekeeper pops out form a mountain of something.

"Good afternoon gentlemen! Humans in these parts? A rare sight I must say! Even if some have lived among the stars since Humans could ship their sorry behinds here! What can I help you with? I myself descends from human trav-"

"Uh, birthday stuff? Or anything human related?" Keith asks and elbows Matt. "It's that the game Pidge kept yapping about?"

"We're here for things for Shiro's birthday but I could always hid this from her."

The storekeeper looks at them for a moment. "Believe it or not I do have cake mixes here! And chocolate!" Keith nearly jumps the man whom neatly sidesteps with a grin. "And I'm not a heartless jerk. 3 GAC please." It takes them a moment to figure out that 3 GAC means the price of everything they are selecting and sets the store on their transponders, they swing by a spot that is stalls lining the sides and Matt stops and yanks Keith back by the jacket.

"Japanese!" Matt holds up the book and Keith opens it with shaky hands.

__As eternal as the stars you dream of, as ever, we are with you_. Matt and Keith, your eternal friends.**_

Snapping the book shut they both grin widely and starts to look around closer, calling out when they find something that was brought on the Kerberos mission. Keith manages to get everything for only 7 GAC and Matt bows to him for being a king of deals and Keith lightly whacks his friend with the book before slipping it into the bag and they scan more stalls. One alien waves them in and holds up something.

"This you boy?" He hands it to Matt whom takes it and gaps. Keith stays behind understanding what it's all about, he looks around a bit until he feels Matt's hand on his shoulder and looks at his beaming face holding a watch and a medallion with a woman on one side and Matt and Pidge on the other. "Pidge just called. Their mission was a success and they are heading back."

They leave for Olkarion and head for the kitchen to make the cake, Keith mixes everything and Matt measures and sets the oven when Hunk comes in and Matt covers his mouth. "Shiro, birthday, cake, not a pip, capiche?" Hunk nods and Matt waits 2 more ticks before moving his hand. "Need any cooking help?"

"Food yes. Cake I think we got it covered." Keith tastes it and then holds the bowl to them. "But see if the oven isn't going to ash this?" Hunk laughs but does as asked and while the cake is getting ready they mix some glazing and decorates it while Hunk does the main cooking. Keith then runs off to find something to wrap the book in and Matt goes to give the medallion to Pidge, keeping the watch with their mother's inscription to their father for himself.

Dinner time arrives achingly slow and before Pidge can run off Keith sets down the cake with a grin and they all freeze in the most comic way that Matt wheezes clinging to his sides. Shiro looks at the cake, his friends and back at it. "How have you kept track?!"

"That will be one secret I will never tell you." Keith straightens crossing his arms as Matt lights the number candles (26) and by then the others had recovered from their surprise and Shiro looks at Hunk. "You must have known if the castle hasn't burnt down."

"I found out about a varga ago? But yeah nothing was burned down-"

"Unless Shiro tries to make something." Keith blurs out and Matt goes red trying to muffle the tsunami giggles while Shiro death glares him and then looks down on the cake which is decorated to good to be be ruined. Black looks majestic even as glaze and the lion is purring in embarrassment and joy in Shiro's subconscious. With one breath the candles are out and starts cutting the cake and the first to lose it is Pidge whom slips out of her chair like she had gone boneless and Lance refuses to swallow his first bite, Hunk has stars in his eyes and Allura and Coran looks at their pieces before tasting themselves and it's like a nuclear cloud had gone off in them as they quickly dig in and slowly eats their second piece.

"There's one more thing too." Matt grins as he runs to get it and Keith chuckles as he eats and Shiro is looking between them. "Should I worry?"

"No but I know for sure we'll need a healing pod." Matt comes back with the black wrapped gift with white thread and Shiro looks between as he takes it. "I think I'll worry."

"Can you trust us just once?" Matt pouts and while Keith is snickering Shiro opens the gift and freezes.

He was holding the one book he had read several times that the cover was getting frayed and slowly opened it to the blank page before the title page. But there was a neat writing on the blank page.

_As eternal as the stars you dream of, as ever, we are with you. Matt and Keith, your eternal friends.**_

Between the pages was his friendship pendant, the bottom part of a puzzle piece that formed a heart and the words _Best Friends Forever._ Shiro looks up at them and in sync they pull out their own pendants and smirks. "I vote for unleashing Keith on the Galrans that hurt us!" Matt jabs his thumb at Keith whom takes out his knife to see if it needs sharpening.

Shiro huffs a laugh and closes the book. "Keith is not having all the fun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** line is borrowed and modified from Barbie as Rapunzel. The hairbrush that over night becomes a paint brush as this written on it: As faithful as the stars in heaven, just as faithfully, we will love you.
> 
> i thought it fit here :3 x3 (yes is used the pendants again)


	20. Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The arms have some fun. (Keith and Pidge)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes; i have played the switch game called Arms.
> 
> No; i'm not referring to that.

Pidge giggled at the feel of the marker running over the skin of her arm and Keith's warm hand holding her wrist. " _(laughs)_ Hold still Pigeon! This tickle torture will be over soon and you can do it on my right arm." Pidge looks at the mirrored hologram of Shiro and the zoomed in part of his Galra arm. It had been an impulse thing on her part and after finding a marker she found Keith in his room and voiced her idea and he held his hand out for the marker.

Removing her shirt so she was in her tank top Pidge toed off her boots and sat cross-legged holding her left arm out to him. Keith grabs the hologram and moves it over Pidge's arm to use the lines for guidance and then they repeat it on his right arm.

"You know the best thing about being part Galra and Voltron's right arm? You and Shiro match."

"If soul mates ends up on that list Matt is going to die when we find and tell him." Keith huffs his fringe out of his eye and Pidge giggles. "But oooh the sweet payback! For us and Shiro!"

"Okay I take it back."

Pidge finishes drawing on his arm and is about to book it when she runs into someone who just opened Keith's door and as she looks up Shiro is staring down at her left arm and she barely catches the falling datapad that slips out of his numb hand and rubs her neck. "Um, found marker and- Keith did his arm too!"

Shiro follows her finger and Keith holds out his own right with red slowly tinting his cheeks, Pidge set the datapad down and pulls Shiro into the room holding her arm up. "We match! Thou I'm not Galra like the two of you." Fist-bumping the metal arm, she's out of the room when the words sinks into Shiro's head and he sinks down on the bed hiding his red face and Keith swore he sees steam shooting out of his boyfriend's and hugs him.

"Can't handle how cute it is that we drew your arm on ours?"

"Remind me to unleash her on the most tech-ish planet we come across."

"And me?"

Finding himself on his back with the black paladin kissing all common sense out of him was answer enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if Shieth is my sin, Pre-K is my death then these three are my...my...something...
> 
> I love Voltron. (Even if I have scars from S8...)


	21. Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After S2 finale while Team Voltron runs to Black to check on Shiro; Kolivan takes the few precious moments to realize his three best friends are gone. 
> 
> The only ones who really knew him behind the stern, emotionless Blade Leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have I mentioned I love Kolivan too?
> 
> And Thace and Krolia.

Ulaz.

Antok.

Thace.

He killed them all.

Kolivan slumps down the wall of his given room at the Castle of Lions and just stares into the opposite wall, seeing Antok get blasted from behind over and over. He never knew Ulaz had died until Voltron told him, and Thace had been so close to them only for Death to come for him too. He had hoped they would get him out along with the other blades that wished to leave the Galra central command and he had granted it.

He placed the heel of his right hand over his eye and pressed it to ward off the headache that was starting to form, not hearing the doors slide open or noticing the person crouching beside him until something plays with his braid.

"You look like shit Koli. But you aren't alone."

He barely believes his eyes as he looks up and finds Thace right there beside him. solid, alive and looking like he just clawed out from hell. He was dressed in a white suit so he must have been in a healing pod before coming here. The braid is twined between Thace's long fingers and he leans forward so their foreheads are touching. "You're not alone Koli."

The tears are falling before Kolivan can stop them as his eyes closes and his hand that is resting in his head slowly grasps the one holding his braid. "Ulaz and Antok..."

"I know. And you thought I had perished in the explosion. I would have if the Red Paladin hadn't insisted that I'd follow." Thace mumbles as he sits down beside his friend and groans. "I'm okay I'm okay, just stiff from being in the healing pod since the Red Paladin flew us here." Huddled together on the floor Kolivan closes his eyes and besides the Ship's humming he can hear Thace's breathing and feel his heart beating when he places his hand over that spot.

"Thace?"

"Mh?"

"Let's get off the floor. I think the bed is more comfortable."

"...In a dubosh." Thace leans against him more and his breathing evens out. Kolivan feels the hand holding his braid go slack and lowers their still linked hands to their laps, watching his friend sleep when he feels another presence. He looks up to his left and nearly croaks as Ulaz crouches beside him with a smile, through him Kolivan sees the desk and in front of him Antok's mask is gone and he too as crouched, looking at Thace with a frown.

 _"Don't beat yourself Koli."_ Ulaz whispers.

_"You've known us to go down fighting. Thou I can't say I will unhear your howl when I felt-"_

Ulaz smacks his shoulder and Antok shuts up. Thace crack the eye hidden in Kolivan's uniform and listens to his lost friends.

_"Knowledge or Death. Once all knowledge of the Empire has been gained and sent to Marmora death is the one option we pick once we've been discovered. I only wish I had the time to tell Shiro everything he wanted to know."_

"Then start talking. Kolivan can pass it further one they find him again."

_"'Again'?"_

Thace rises his head from Kolivan's shoulder. "He vanished from his lion after the fight and Black Lion isn't moving. So start talking, Koli should still have his handheld on him."

Kolivan groans at the nickname as his head sinks into his hands and chuckles fills the room. "I can't believe you still remember that name."

"Blame Antok."

Ulaz snickers as Antok briefly phases out of view when Kolivan's fist swipes him and Antok grins like the shit he is. Thace snorts as their friend slumps back, arms crossed and ears down. "I hate you."

_"Sure you do."_

_"Thace?"_

"He's lying." Thace quips and Kolivan blinks when he remembers Thace was the only one of them who could tell when Kolivan was lying. It hurt how much he had missed them all together. "This just a check in before really leaving for the after life?"

 _"Something like that."_ Antok says before he stands and Ulaz, after placing his hand on Kolivan's free shoulder follows and soon they are gone. Thace struggles to his feet and collapses in the bed instead. "Unclip your blade. I don't want it poking me."

Kolivan places his blade on the floor and removes his outer armor to join Thace, whom starts to play with the braid again like he's itching to undo and braid it again.

"You're not alone."

"For now."

Thace may have escaped death once but there was no telling when it would happen again.


	22. Come Back II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One chat (or two) later things kinda goes back to normal...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i remember this took me way to many tries.

"Hunk you sure he's going to eat all that? You kinda made enough for everyone on that tray." Lance asks as they near Keith's room and Hunk glares at him. "You really haven't taken a close look at him have you? It's a miracle he's still alive! Also did it ever cross your mind how he managed a year in a desert?! Where would he get the food?!"

"Okay okay chi- Wait Keith's skipped meals?" Lance had lifted his hands when it dawned to him. "And now that you mention it- it didn't look like he had much in that shack... Wonder how many pounds he gained when you got the hang of space cooking."

"Lots from the looks of it and then he spends more time on missions then taking care of himself. And let's not forget what he did about a week and a half ago!"

Lance opens the door for him instead of answering and Hunk enters with a grin. "Hey Keith we got you some foo _uck where is he?!_ " Lance ran in and found the room vacant, blanket half on the floor. "Damn it! Coran! Keith's gone!" Lance ran out screaming hoping the castle comms would pick it up while Hunk stands frozen and only snaps out of it when the crash of the tray brings him back, he quickly cleans it up and dumps it in the kitchen to join everyone on the bridge and head for the lift to Yellow's hanger.

"-is gone! How long I have no idea Hunk and I just discovered he was missing!" Lance stands with fists full of Shiro's vest whom looks like he's about to see his own soul leave his body while Matt is yelling at Kolivan, something about Keith's mental state. Pidge appears on screen already in armor and in the Green Lion.

_"Will you guys clam it and get a move on?! We have to find him!"_

"The Red lion is not in the hanger. It'll just be the four of you out looking. Unless Matt and Lance takes a pod each?" Coran replies.

Kolivan looks up from the floor. "Look in the forest. Keith always said he preferred the quiet outdoors. Maybe he took the lion for a private talk. The Lions are sentient and protective of you, are they not?"

Shiro shakes his head to clear it as Lance helps steady him. "Kolivan is right. Look among the cliffs and mountains. They'll remind him of the canyons on Earth."

_"Copy. Hey maybe Green has another skill! Like the nature telling her what we want to know!"_ Pidge perks up and then they are gone with Yellow and Blue. Lance help Shiro to his station and clasps his shoulder. "You're to in shock to pilot Black. I'll grab a pod and help... Actually no I don't think that's needed."

"Unless they are in a cave big enough for Red to squirm into."

"...Good point. Uh guys! Try find caves big enough to hold a lion!"

_"Shouldn't be to hard for Yellow to find!"_

Coran sighs and rubs his eyes. "Has it crossed anyone's mind that they could very well not be on Olkarion? They could be on a planet with fire or-"

_"Nope, Red's on a mountain ledge. But she's roaring at me and Green stopped moving... Shiro I think we need you here."_

"Wuah- Shiro tips over the moment he stands up! Just vine up Red and drag her back!"

_"And have her start a forest fire?"_

Lance finds nothing to counter that as Shiro stands. "I'll be right there."

**000**

Black rumbles as they near Red and Shiro looks around. "To small huh? Fits the arms thou." But before Shiro can do anything Black has scooped up Red whom stays limp and Keith appears on screen. _"Pidge he teases our lions sizes."_

_"I can hack his arm to punch himself. AFTER I've punched you! What the hell were you thinking just leaving without a word?! Shiro almost died on the spot when Lance ran in screaming!"_

_"Hey Red wanted to talk to me and Black let us out."_

Shiro gaps at his console. "You did what?!"

She growls at them all and leads them back to her hanger. Keith steps out still holding the bayard and Red keeps her head down as they run forward, Pidge punched him hard but he stays on his feet. Allura walks up to him with fury in her eyes. "Do you have any idea what you did? What if Voltron was needed?!

"Then you would have told me where to meet up and Voltron would have been formed!" Keith moved his hand from the new bruise holding up the bayard. "I could still form the swo-" Allura had swiped the bayard out of his hand and smacked it into Lance's chest sending him into Hunk and then she jabs a finger in Keith's chest. "You could have put us in jeopardy taking the Red Lion without a word!"

Kolivan runs up to pull the princess away from their nose-to-nose fight and Keith staggers back slowly. "You- You don't want me back on the team..." Red growls and opens her mouth but Keith runs out of the hanger, despite them calling him back. Shiro runs after him while Matt glues his hands to his face groaning.

"Keith! Keith please wait!" Shiro catches up to the injured man and gently hugs him from behind. "We do want you back! It's just that everyone is on edge after hearing what you tried to do... Yes even I am on edge right now." He admits when Keith turns to look up at him, Shiro knows he's starting to tear up a bit and makes sure to talk before the dam breaks completely.

"We heard you tried to sacrifice yourself... And it scared us- It scared me that you were willing to go so far to save us. But I don't think it would have saved us..."

And there he loses his voice and struggles to form words again but the flood gates have already failed him. Keith lifts his hands to hold Shiro's face and takes deep breaths to steel himself. "My- My death would have..."

All Shiro could do was nod quickly has he brings Keith closer in the hug. "Please- Please for the love of everything- Don't think, try or suggest doing something like that again. We all swore to go back home together, and that includes you."

"Plus we prefer you alive and kicking out asses. Vocally and literally." Pidge had sneaked up on them and was worming her way between them to hug Keith and it took a tick or two but eventually his free arm wound around her too, the other around Shiro. Keith swallows thickly as his own tears falls.

"I'm sorry- I'm so sorry..."

The Green Paladin hugs him tighter and it's then he feels the glasses aren't on her nose because they don't dig into his chest. "We missed you so much."

**000**

Back in his room with someone watching him Keith waits for his 'sentence'.

"Dude it's not a sentence! More like discussion if you should stay with the Blades or come back to Voltron. Once that vote has been made the choice is all you." Matt tried to convince him during his watch but Keith was laying with his back turned to him. "You saw Allura. I doubt she's gone over the fact I'm part Galra."

"Which, if I may add, is hard as hell to believe. Like how did you pass the Garrison's medical exams?!"

"And not be thrown into a cage the moment you broke the lower atmosphere?"

"...Don't say they did it."

"Didn't give them a change. Punched Iverson's left eye so hard the bastard is half blind for life, didn't stick around to see if it was hanging out of his head." Matt shivers because the detailed description is enough.

"Well he's about to lose his other eye if I see him." Shiro comes in and sits on the bed. "They did strap me to a table after all when I crash landed. And you got to punch him again!" Matt snorts as Keith turns to sit up. "You have no idea how satisfying it was. I got to take out my rage twice on the man who chose 'Pilot Error' as the reason you disappeared."

Matt gaped and Shiro blinked twice before they both looked like they were about to- "If you're going to murder something there's plenty of Gladiators on the training deck to trash." Keith points at his door and hopes his hand and voice isn't shaking because he's never seen either of them so pissed off before. Shiro breaths calmly and Matt opens and closes his hands grasping his cloak.

"Anyway moving on. What's the vote Shiro? Is Keith going with the Blade or is he staying? And please say the final word is Keith's?"

Shiro lifts his head once he's calm enough and nods. "We managed to agree- read: Pidge lost it and yelled at us- that it was all Keith's choice and we are not to pressure him about it. And she's right, as always." He looks at Keith. "The choice is all yours. Just know that I will have a hellish time letting you out of my sight."

"How when I'll be attached to Black slicing Galra ships? Unless you're going to tell me Voltron is left handed and can function with one arm."

It was a joke but he couldn't say that now, not when Shiro hugged him to death and sent them both falling into the bed and Matt bolted to collect his bet and announce that Voltron was getting it's Red Paladin back.

Shiro pressed his lips under Keith's jaw to feel the pulse beating there before looking into those purple eyes.

"It's good to have you back, Baby."

"It's good to be back, Takashi.


	23. Found Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My view of S6E7 - Defender of All Universes

Shiro slowly woke up to see a Galra woman with features that was so like Keith's it was hard not to guess who she was and closed his eyes again. "He woke up for a few seconds just now, come talk to him, I'm sure Black will let me watch the panels for a bit."

She rose and a moment later there was an arm under him that gently lifted him up and after some rearranging he found himself leaning against broad chest and leaned his head closer to the warmth. "Go back to sleep Takashi. You're safe, solid, real and breathing." Keith soft voice made Shiro's heart expand just a little as the arms tighten.

"It's good to have you back."

Tears slipped down his closed eyes as he sighed. "Good to... Be back... Baby..."

A soft huff. "Haven't heard that nickname in years, literally... I'll tell you that story when you can stay awake longer then a few ticks." Long careful fingers played with his fringe softly and Shiro sighed again before frowning. "Get... the armor off, it's heavy..."

Both Keith and the Galra helped him out of it and into the gray silk pajamas Coran had long ago given them on their first day at the Castle of Lions and Keith smiled at the next quiet sigh. "Don't know if you remember... This is my Mom, Krolia." Shiro open his eyes for a second and she nodded. "We'll talk more when you are stronger, now please keep the personalized stubbornness here with you so he gets some sleep."

"Hey!"

Shiro huffed with a smile. "But he's our stubbornness."

"Sadly he may have gotten that from me." She left them alone and Keith pouted as he laid on his back and Shiro curled to his side and threw his left arm around Keith. "You look like her." Keith smiled again as he ran his fingers through the white hair. "Cheese ball."

"Mmhm." Shiro smiled and closed his eyes again. "I'm glad you found me..."

"Oh it was easy, I just turned on my stubbornness fueled GPS and honed in on you... All into the fricking Astral Plane..."

Shiro laughed and hugged him. "Okay okay no more teasing about the one trait that is on my list of why I love you, yes I remember so calm down before you turn into a steam whistle." He felt a light tug in his fringe but his smile was to big and slowly slipped back to sleep.


	24. Long Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My take on S7E13 - Lion's Pride Pt2
> 
> Even in Spirit form Keith upholds his promises to Hunk about finding his family :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost through with all the current chapters on FF

Keith slowly open his eyes to find it was night time and stars tinkling in the sky as the blinds were open and carefully moved his stiff limbs, wondering how long he had been in the hospital when the door open and he quickly shut his eyes thinking it was a nurse or a doctor coming to check on him but the person sat down in the chair but his bed and sighed.

"Still asleep I see."

Shiro.

Carefully opening the left eye mostly hidden by the pillow and struggled to control his body not to out him as the moon light flittered in and glowed behind Shiro, his white hair and tank top and arm... Huh, they got him a new one that looked like an arm. Shiro ran his hands through his hair and left them behind his neck as he leaned forward and huffed.

"I need to hear your voice Keith, telling me things will be okay, that we'll get through it together... I don't think I can add month 4 and function... God it's almost 4 months since that Robeast fight and Sendak's defeat and you... You are the only paladin still in hospital worrying everyone to the bone, I've never seen Kolivan anywhere but in here and Matt stops by several times. You'd die seeing him now, he went from Pidge's hairstyle, to Shaggy and now to Link! I'm not kidding and when I pointed it out before it ended me, Pidge let out the most- I don't know what that cackle was but everyone thought she was insane and then Hunk figured it out too and dropped. Lance, as always, took some time but when I explained it he got the message. Matt still hates me."

Keith could see it happen, how the paladins were gathered somewhere making fun of Matt and if he had that long hair they were mullet pals.

"Now where did that extra pillow go?... I know you would scold me for sleeping in a plastic chair and hurt my back but I don't want to leave you, I want to see you wake up... See your eyes shine again and that fire in you. You scared me... You bleed so much and... And..."

He almost open his eyes when the door open again and Matt came around the bed, Shiro was right about the hair going from Shaggy to Link alright.

"Still the same? Mom insist on giving me a hair cut but I told her to leave it until Keith woke up as he would never believe anyone, she's not going to cut it all just trim it a bit."

"Pointy ears and you're Link, I swear."

"You're lucky you're the Captain or I would have dyed your hair the brightest screaming color I can find! And it will be easy with your old man hair!"

Keith couldn't help it, the machines sounded off and both men jumped and paled.

"What's happening?!"

"I don't- I don't know!"

It was then that Keith noticed the tube going down his throat and the air given, had he been that bad off? He didn't want to scare them more but he started coughing and one of them hammered the call button, the door slammed up, light flooded behind his eyes as doctor and nurses ran in, risking cracking his eye he found Matt and Shiro by the window looking near panic and tears. Keith cough more as they removed the tube and pain exploded in some places of his body and he didn't know how long it went on but it finally faded and he could breath some what easier, now with a mask over his mouth and nose and heard bits and pieces of what was said.

**000**

"...And so they changed to the mask and added painkillers in the IV." Keith heard Matt as he came to but kept his eyes shut, waiting to hear who was in the room. He felt someone hugging his arm and figured it was Pidge, someone was holding his other hand and then a bigger one covering them, he risked opening his left eye and found his mom holding his hand and Kolivan had just added his hand over theirs and his face looked so... Older and worried...

He was worried about Keith, after all he had been through himself.

"Just like that? Just rejecting the respirator tube?" Hunk's voice was heard and then a woman's voice he did not recognize. "It has happens sometimes, but if they switched to mask it means he might be getting better after all. Your friend is coming back Hunk."

"Really? You think so Mom?"

Hunk's mom. So he finally got to reunite with them after all, it eased Keith's heart and then there was a gentle commotion as children came in calling for Hunk and he freaked. "You're okay! Oh man you guys are bigger!"

"Wait... How is he in that bed... He just saved us from that camp... With the Black lion..."

"...Ke-Keith saved you? In Black?! Wait was he there physically or..."

"No, he was glowing and made signs for us to enter the lion and it flew us here and- There's the orb!"

Now Keith heard Black and her plan that the lions were in on, Red was sending a red light orb into the room that would go into Keith and he was then to wake up and not tease them like he was right now. Once he got the word he slowly open his eyes and the mice went from calm and quiet to complete freak out as they tackling into his face and poor Chulatt went head first into the breathing mask.

"Hey you, careful." Keith mumbled and looked at Krolia who looked about ready to shatter as Kolivan grinned and Shiro slumped in the other chair. Keith moved his head to his right and met the other Paladins and their families and the little girl in Hunk's lap grinned.

"Thank you for saving us! And bringing them all back!"

Both kids were moved out of Hunk's lap as he darted forward to hug Keith and bawled into his shoulder and nearly squashed Pidge who was cutting the blood out of Keith's arm as she too cried and then Keith saw Matt behind Shiro and the hair.

"Glad you're back Keith."

"Glad to be back Link. Now get the damn scissors and go back to be Shaggy, you have a dog."

The look was worth it on Matt as everyone lost it and Pidge hugged Keith after Hunk drew back and rambled how much they missed him. "Been a good Gremlin?"

"Mhm!"

"Good, go back to be a misbehaved Gremlin and attack Matt's mop."

Matt yelped as he darted out with Pidge right after and Lance picked himself up from the floor and wheezed. "Please stop before you kill us! Holy crap you actually do have a sense of humor! And it's deadly!"

Keith flops his left hand still in Krolia's. "Her fault." Which makes Kolivan snort. "Sadly he's right. She detonated a goo bomb in the Blade leader's office, way before me by the way, we were recruits at the time. So she detonates it and the whole base hears the roar and then we see her dart past, grabs Thace in the run and announces it was done and he loses it. So basically Keith is a mix of them both."

"Wait Thace was Keith's uncle?" Lance calms from his giggles and Keith quirks a tired brow as he's about to fall asleep again and Kolivan nods. "And me."

"...You are so damn lucky I can't move right now and about to deck again old man." Keith grumbles and both Sam and Coran scolds him on the 'old man' but the grins tells otherwise.

**000**

When Keith finally is released he's near to claw the walls and visits Black, gets to hear about Matt's 3 years, wonders if they add 3 year of their own or if they leave it be as they had no idea and unwillingly jumped three years in time. He gets no solid answer on that yet so he leaves it, gets to meet all Blades that Kolivan and Krolia managed to find and he's fist bumped, careful shoulder pats and hugged by them all. He gets alone time with Kolivan and tells how he killed the druid and Kolivan is flabbergasted as Keith counts up the other times he knew his surroundings and has no answers about it.

He spends time with the paladins, grins when Matt comes in with his trimmed hair and admits that he missed them like hell and their teasing. No one is surprised they go all out on that, Keith heads for the curved memorial wall and finds Adam's name there and his worry for Shiro goes up a notch.

During the evening he slips into Shiro's room and waits for him to come back and debates between white pajamas or black t-shirt and red soft pants, he settles for white shirt and pants and the doors opens not to long after and it has closed by the time Shiro looks up and freezes.

The moon filters in and the light glows around Keith as he looks up.

"Still need me?" He withholds a grunts as he's crushed in Shiro's arms and his scar is being kissed.

"I'll always need you Keith... Please don't ever leave me... Not like that..."

"We knew it would happen, can happen. We're not immortal..."

Shiro leaned back after one last kiss on the cheek scar and gazed into the eyes that had been dull when they found him and closed for so long Shiro feared he'd never see them shine again, but he can almost see himself in them.

"The way you take out bad guys left and right? You seem that way."

Keith huffed as he leaned in and hugged him. "I'm here. I'm still with you... I'm sorry about Adam. I saw his name on the wall."

Shiro nodded and sighed. "And then you all scare me to back death."

"I'm surprised you still have hair." Keith gets on his knees to run his fingers through the white hair and playfully tugs it. "Or is it a wig?" Shiro chuckles and gently grasps both wrists looking up at Keith and gets lost in his eyes again.

"I love you Keith."

Why did they have to have near/literally death experiences to admit it to each other?

"I love you too Takashi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sheith to the end of time!!!


	25. Icy Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro's floaty hand comes to excellent use to prank Lance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the first thing that flew in my mind when i saw Shiro floaty hand xD

Shiro was slightly peeved.

Okay make that majorly.

Keith had been missing for 2 days and no one could find him, he wasn't in Black, not at the shack (that's when Shiro freaked out), none of the hover bikes were missing, Krolia had no idea where he was and joined the search and soon all blades were in on it. Garrison officers weren't much help and neither were the little brats in orange, the MFE pilots didn't know eit-

"He went to pick up his hover bike."

Okay so Leifsdottir knew where Keith was.

"Yeah he said that he was."

... And Lance.

Shiro nearly strangled him. "You knew where he was while I was close to die _again_ but of a fucking heart attack?!" He yelled at the Red Paladin whom fled behind Griffin who was rod straight and didn't dare breath. When Keith finally returned Kolivan caught him first and lightly scolded him for giving them near heart attacks.

"I told Lance where I was going!"

"And he didn't pass it on, Leifdottir heard however and when she found Shiro she told him and that's when Lance remembered."

Keith sighed and after looking around (like 3 times) he dove into Kolivan's midsection and made the older Galra lose some air as Keith hugged him. "'m sorry I scared you again... After being gone for 3 years..." Not even Krolia would find out Kolivan's hands had shook has he hugged back and Keith went to find Shiro and had to dive out of the way before he was run over.

"I'm sorry!" Keith rose his hands as Shiro rubbed his head after hitting the door and then got hold of Keith. "Not good enough! You nearly scared me back to into Astral form!"

"Where is your arm? Your hover one."

Shiro blinked. "Uh... Off powered in the bedroom?"

"Power it on and bring it here." Keith held up his hands and soon the limb lay in them and Keith led them to the kitchen and walked over to the freezer but before he opened it he told Shiro to turn it off so he didn't feel the cold and shoved it, dusting his hands and dragged Shiro to the bedroom for a round of apology 'cuddles'.

And a mountain of paperwork as long as Keith's arm from shoulder down.

**000**

Keith snuck into Lance's room with the ice cold hand and after Allura had rolled up the pajamas top Pidge gave the all clear and Shiro powered the hand on, Keith darted out with Allura over his shoulder after letting go of the hover hand that landed on Lance's warm back and the shriek was heard through the Garrison. Shiro's arm soon followed them and picked up Pidge on the way.

Lance was grumbling when he entered the mess hall and some giggled while other were clueless, his older siblings were howling at their table (Hunk had told them about the prank) and Shiro smirked before drinking his coffee (Matt heaving beside him) and Keith had his back to Lance but he was grinning at Matt nearly dying.


	26. Group Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some random texting stuff xD hopefully not to long...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after much hazel i finally got something that shows the emojis xDD almost feared i'd had to use my phone for this chapter!!

**Keith:** _Katie. Anna. Holt._ **  
**

**Pidge:** _Meep_ **😰**

**Lance:** _Eeep_ **😨**

**Hunk:** _-whimpers-_

**Allura:** _Oh dear O.O_

**Shiro:** _-half asleep- Oh great... Drool on my notes..._

**Shiro: 😶**

**Shiro:** _Oh my fuck what in gods name did you do Pidge?!!!_ **😨😨**

**Pidge:** _I have no idea he just typed that and I'm cold sweating!!_ **😰**

**Keith:** _Remember when you said you burned Lance's notes for bugging you?_

**Pidge: ....**

**Pidge:** _OH PLZ GOD DON'T TELL ME THEY WERE YOURS!!!!_ **😱**

**Keith:** _4 breakdowns and 192 hours of no sleep!!!_

**Keith:** _I'm stuck in detention because that Ass of a teacher wouldn't accept that as an excuse!! "Sir my friends had a spat and one mistook the others for his notes to burn but they were mine!!_

**Pidge:** _I'm sory!!!!!_ **😢**

 

_Keith has left the group._

 

**Pidge:** _NOOOOOOO_ **😭😭😭  
**

**Shiro:** _-face in the textbooks- You. did. what?!!!!_

**Allura:** _I am so disappointed in you both_ **¬_¬**

**Hunk:** _Really?_

**Hunk:** _I'm offline for like a day and come back to this?!_

**Hunk:** _I'm gonna ask Keith what the notes were about and try restore them._

**Shiro:** _No need Hunk_ **😉**

**Hunk:** _??_

**Shiro:** _(Picture of dog tags, one is a flash drive)_

**Shiro:** _I always save copies of Keith's notes_ **😇**

**Shiro:** _I am no dummy_ **😁**

**Pidge:** _I'm sowwy!!!_ **🙇♀️💔**

 

**000**

_Shiro has added Keith to the group_

 

**Shiro:** _So the teach finally accepted what I told him and showed him our conversation. Keith got a C+ (really was a D but Teach felt bad for not believing him)_ **  
**

**Shiro:** _and Keith didn't clobber anyone ^-^_

**Allura:** _Yaaay!!_ 😍

**Hunk: (╥︣﹏᷅╥)** _He's back!!!!_ **😢😭  
**

**Keith:** _I'm back for Hunk_ **¬ ¬**

**Hunk: 🏃💨** _to make_ **🍰**

**Shiro:** _told you_ **😉**

**Keith:** _y_ _eah yeah._ **🙄😑**

**Keith:** _Again: you act like an Angel and Allura looks like one._

**Shiro: 💜**

**Allura:** _I did have trouble with my Halloween outfit_ 🤔

**000**

"Pidge is still sorry she got you in trouble."

"Hhhng."

Shiro glances to his left and finds Keith facedown in a pillow. "Please turn your head right or left. I love you and would like you not to die."

"Then kill me."

Shiro grins.

"Not until I get that ring on your left hand."

_(Keith freaks in_

_3..._

_2..._

_1...)_

"WHAT?!!!"

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> adding emojis to this was sooo much fun!! 😄


	27. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith leaves after the wedding. The Voltron Lions of another reality brings him to theirs and nothing but happiness goes from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- will forever be pissed about S8 until DW corrects their shit -
> 
> Set after the "season that sent 100% of its fandom to asylums".
> 
> (In also need to update the tags...)

Keith left after the newlyweds walked down the aisle and makes the long trek in space to where the final battle had taken place, to meet the Voltron lions there and feel Black's comfort through his mind. "Take me away from here... Somewhere I can heal from all this..."

Black opens her mouth and after he's seated they take off and fly in some direction, Keith was curled up hiding behind his knees and silently cries, feeling each lion comforting him. He lost track of time until Black alerted and found they were before some blue stream, going to an orb like-

What.

"The core of Realities... You can get here on your own?!"

 _Your lions have departed. We are from a reality where places were switched._ Black tells him.

 _You took her place... It devastated everyone..._ Blue prods his mind and Keith blinks. "Every- No one cares about me!"

 _-sigh- I knew it. I knew he'd say that..._ Yellow huffs and lowers her head and Red, literally, smacks a paw over her eyes. Green hovers before Black and Keith leans back slightly.

_Get ready._

Oh boy.

Keith grunts as he gets punched by emotions, screams, hurt, sadness, pain... Events he was familiar with...

He sees Lance before him, hears Pidge scream, sees himself jetpack towards the light and turn...

The gentle grin and tears falling from his eyes...

Keith frowns and sees his other self mouth something, that Black translates.

_There is always another way._

The vision fades and Keith looks at Black's consol. "He and Allura are behind this..."

_Very good!_

_Now if only Red was just a clever and not hotheaded._

_Watch it._ Red wipes around to growl at Blue and Keith swears if they had face expressions Blue would look smug. Black hovers forward a little.

_What do you decide? Stay here, or come with us._

Keith closes his eyes to sort his memories, his pain, and feelings...

"Did you leave just to get me?"

_No, the princess postpones her coronation all the time and its making some impatient and questions. She refuses to do it without you there._

Lucky him for still having his paladin armor, it was still dirty and a little chipped after his last mission. He gets up to change into it and gets rid of the white tux, red vest and matching fly.

"What are we waiting for?"

With a united roar they enter the stream and Keith sees Blue shoot a beam where they entered.

_To prevent jumpers._

To prevent his versions from dragging him back. Keith closes his eyes as the light gets brighter and then they are out, same place but heads forward and Voltron is formed without him doing anything and he finds the bayard in the slot. (his own was slipped into Coran's bag)

He was going to have Red melt his Luxite knife, he'd save the melted material for something else.

Altea was before them and its night time, like when they left in Keith's reality. They face the same place they had seen their Paladins and Keith can see them, Coran, Romelle, the MFE's, his Mom, Kolivan, Ulaz and Thace and Antok. The lions land and Red nuzzles Black's jaw and Keith takes it as a hint to climb down to the mouth as Black lowers her head and the light behind him blinds them slightly so he takes the second to pull out the hair tie and when Black lowers the light Coran is first to lose his mind.

"YOU KEPT YOUR WORD!"

Keith takes one step forward, blast his jetpack and barrels into the Team. Him and Shiro clinging to each other in the middle and Pidge clinging to Keith, Hunk and Lance crying, Allura and Coran thanking Keith for so many things he stops listening to them. His eyes zeroes in on Kolivan holding his mom up and Keith gets out of the hug to jetpack to her.

"Mom!"

Aaaand he knows it will take hours before she ever lets go of him.

**000**

Keith notices vital differences and blames his confusion on 'was I gone that long or don't I just remember?' Thankfully no one blames him and patiently updates him on things but of course something bites him in the ass because Pidge catches him one day.

"It's like you're talking about a different reality!"

"Well he did restore them all so its possible he used so much of his own quintessence he forgot which was his reality!"

Keith grabs the best thought he can. "I think Lance is right... Maybe that's why I've been such a mess lately?" Pidge looks between the two and slowly backs til she plops in Shiro's lap. "Help... He... Keith..."

"Just agreed with Lance." Shiro never looked up from his datapad but pat Pidge's head. "Deep breaths Katie. Listen to Green whom I guessing is telling you to calm down." Pidge takes about 5 in and out breaths before returning to the subject and by now Romelle and Allura had finished trimming Keith's hair and braided it.

He catches Shiro alone in his office one night and clearly his face showed something because Shiro almost leaped over his desk trying to get to him. "I-I can't remember anything between crashing on Earth and the Restoring..." Shiro leads him to a small sofa and holds his hands. "Keith, hey its okay. What is it you can't remember?"

"...Tell me about the Earth Robeast?"

So Shiro does, how he had frozen seeing it go off, how he found Keith in black bleeding from the head and feared he had lost him, how Keith woke up the day before his mom and Kolivan arrived and Shiro had cried with relief and kissed him. "You scared me so badly Baby-" Shiro's hand lands behind Keith's head and gently pulls him into a kiss and Keith's eyes slips shut and doesn't open until the kiss is over and rests his head on Shiro's left shoulder after they adjust. They left Earth in Atlas and Shiro shows on the Datapad about Olkarion how Keith had randomly taken control of Blue's sonic canon and made the Weblum hightail away.

Pidge had nearly broken Keith's ribs apparently, at least what Hunk told Shiro.

"And then you restored it. Rynar said it wasn't looking post-Acolyte demolished."

"Acolyte?"

Shiro nods. "That's what Honerva called her Robeasts. They were made by the stone statues of the legendary Altean alchemists and-"

"I brought them back too?"

"And the White Lion. Which if I mention it to Allura she's going to freak and you better hope she doesn't hug you to death." Keith sighs but gestures to continue which Shiro does, he tells about about Zethrid and how Shiro had lost control over himself fighting her after she dropped Keith into the volcano and James had caught him in his plane, Veronica sniped Zethrid in the shoulder and picked up Keith's knife where it had fallen in the skirmish and Shiro stayed by Keith's healing pod as he recovered and been a mess most of the night.

Keith wished the old Shiro would have done the same. "I do wonder about one thing... And I hope it was a dream... You arm wrestled and-"

"Not a dream Baby. And that might be something I can jog your memory off." Shiro sends his arm to one side of the room and with his left he covers Keith's eyes. "Heeey! Shirooo!" He tries to get the hand away and when he does there's a stuffed Hippo hovering midair and its the one Keith had tried to win on clear day but failed, leaving him triple sad that he had didn't get it, had to go on a ride with Hunk and not have a day of fun with Shiro.

"You got it for me?"

"James saw you try for it and ran into me, so I took a shot and got it. Wanted to surprise you with it later." Keith hugs it close and bonks into Shiro's shoulder again. "Thank you."

"Thank you for coming back to me Baby."

**000**

Keith stays close to Shiro and is happy that he gets asked for his thoughts about something and sees Curtis, nearly has a panic attack when Adam hugs Curtis from behind and their rings are visible... Keith still had a short-out but waves at them when they see him. Shiro confirms and takes Keith's hands in his own. "I found these before." He takes out a box that Keith recognizes.

"Wait wasn't that-"

"In your shack yeah. I remembered which floor board it was hidden under and Kolivan was- I swear him, Coran, Allura, Sam and Colleen nearly exploded seeing the 'unforgivable commendations' you had been under and Kolivan asked how the ever loving fuck you had lasted a whole year alone out there? Which, honestly, I wonder about too."

Keith shrugs and looks away. "Does it matter?"

"Keith."

"...Adam snuck one of his cards among the things I took with, my stuff and some of yours... He left a note with it saying he had added an app on my phone telling me how much it was on it and what days it would get refilled on. He didn't want me to die alone like you had..."

Shiro blinks several times. "Guess I should thank him later. But enough about that, remember the rings we picked?"

"That are way to small to fit us now, yeah I remember."

Shiro tests them and groans. "Of course they don't. Hey, it gives me a reason to take a day off, looks some rings online and pick the most expen-"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE SHIROGANE!"

"I dare and you love me to much to kill me." Shiro winks, tip of his tongue peaking out and Keith slumps. "Please don't do that!"

"I want to."

**000**

Shiro finds a site that makes custom orders and he spends long time on each ring, some in Voltron colors that he likes, some plain sliver with some white going in the middle, other plain and three stones on Keith's. In the end he calls the jeweler for a meeting, gets hold of the Marmora Forger and asks if Luxite is possible to be used. He shows his custom order and the two gets right on it and the Forger suggests they wear the rings around their necks for a time so they will bond.

Shiro wears them under his uniform during the day and at night he carefully places them on Keith and brings them back to the Forger whom confirms it worked and that they are ready to be used.

For once he's glad Pidge found out and takes Keith out for a race and he makes sure to be in the lead sometimes, neck in neck and finally he lets Keith win and Shiro rips his goggles off. "Explain how the fuck you did that!" Keith is to busy being overjoyed and Shiro lets him. He wasn't ready for the storms of texts and glares at Keith.

 **Matt:** _Ladies and Gentlemen! Shiro finally lost a race!_

 **Adam:** _Should we ask the Princess to ice you? ;)_

 **Allura:** _I'm in Blue right now!_ 😈

 **Curtis:** _Just the SIM scores left then. xD_

 **Shiro:** _I hate you and I dare fire you all. Coran can pilot Blue._

Allura backs down instantly and by now Keith had calmed down and sat watching the sun and Shiro gets a basket and blanket out of his hoverbike compartment. "Keith, stand up for a second." Keith does as told and then flops down once the blanket is in place and accepts the food Hunk made them.

"The night before Atlas took off... Did we spend it together?"

Shiro was glad he had just lifted the bottle. "Of course we did. Remember Lance's random appearance when he climbed up on Black?" Keith snorts. "I do. Did Kosmo get the sausage string?"

"Yeah he did. Hey can I ask you something?"

Keith nods since he had his mouth full so Shiro scoots closer, wounding his arms around Keith and holds up the ring box and Keith freezes slightly (not choking because he had just swallowed) as the lid is lifted and rings revealed. Shiro explains the work behind them and his face is in the crock of Keith's neck.

"Well we got the dying part tacked off."

Ignoring the joke they slide the rings on each others ring finger and kisses.

**000**

And puts the rings on again on their wedding day and Keith throws himself into Shiro's arms to kiss him and the cheers grows louder. They hug Coran who had the honor to wed them and the poor man was a mess that they gladly comforted (and no one interrupted them) until he was ready and Allura wipes his face with some tissues and wonders if he would cry worse when She and Lance married, yes they would and no she wanted no one else thank you.

Walking down the aisle arm in arm Shiro flexed his to make sure Keith wouldn't slip away and the hand on his arm tightens as they walk to the reception and were seated at the Sweetheart table and when they didn't eat Keith would rest against Shiro with his eyes closed and Shiro quietly talked to whomever came up to them and they participated in some games and quizzes.

The current quiz was about Voltron and the team was by Keith and Shiro and let the guests guess the right paladin.

"Okay next question! Who has the shortest fuse when it comes to Slav? Hunk, Allura or Shiro?"

It was like one voice saying Shiro and he cackled with the paladins when Sam shouts that he could relate and Thace instantly covers Slav's mouth before he goes off and Ulaz literally kissed his mate.

Coran recovered from that. "Okay, next question... Who discovered the Blue Lion? Keith, Pidge or Krolia?"

Some guessed Keith, other Pidge. Coran waited before revealing it. "It's actually Krolia! And well, Keith's human father too from what I gather." Krolia nods and the next sets them all off. "Who finally kicked Kolivan's ass? Keith, Thace or Antok?" Kolivan smacks his head in the table and Krolia laughs the loudest while Ulaz pats his back (while dying himself) and one Blade flies up.

"It was Keith! I was there and it was glorious!"

"I will never live this down am I?" Kolivan groans from the table and gets several No and Never.

Keith wipes his eyes. "Coran please tell me that was the last one?"

"It was. Now how about some cake? Hunk skipped a week's sleep."

"HUNK!" The Team shouts and the Yellow Paladin yeets behind Antok but Keith flies after him anyway and Hunk screams as he flees when he losses ground and hangs from Shiro's metal hand as he's brought back. The sight was hilarious to everyone else and Shiro facepalms. "No wonder my hair is white!" And small dose of hilarity goes sidesplitting.

Keith tugs Shiro over to the cake and taps the figurines of the Lions and Atlas.

Later Shiro leads them down to the beach when the sun starts to set and takes off his shoes, socks and rolls his pants to his knees to guide Keith in a slow dance in the water and eventually Shiro's hands are on Keith's waist, Keith's arms around Shiro's shoulders and their faces are inches apart.

"You were so beautiful at the ceremony... Coming towards the alter like that and... You've been beautiful since I crashed after Kerberos." Shiro whispers and his eyes close when Keith kisses him softly and Shiro lifts him slightly and twirls carefully as the kiss ends and Shiro stops when the sun is behind Keith and glows around him.

"You're home..."

"I'm home Takashi. I'm home."

**000**

Keith held the Datapad.

Shiro held his metal hand over Keith's belly...

The datapad showed two little fetus...

No wonder Keith's health and weight had gone rollercoaster. "I give you my word... I had no idea I could do this..." Keith finally gathers enough brain cells that can connect to his mouth and then they are all gone again as Shiro moves his hand and both are more visible, not a dark grainy scan but a clear HD scan. "This one is a boy!" Shiro brights up and moves his hand again and this time it takes a few tries. "Come on Baby, show me your... Don't move your leg further up!"

Keith slaps a hand to muffle his giggles as he watches Shiro grunt and mutter about the rudeness of his own baby. "Aha!" Keith zooms in a little and smiles. "Girl."

"Clearly a mini you!" Shiro rests his chin on the bump. "So rude to me! Ow!" Aaaand Keith is lost. Shiro glares at the little bump that appears and presses a finger there. "I saw it was you!" He tells their daughter. On another screen is the development when the babies can hear and they have determined Keith was 16 weeks and Shiro wondered how they could have missed something so wonderful.

They had been laying in bed enjoying a week off when Shiro felt movement under his left hand and thought it was just Keith moving closer, pressing harder he felt something grace the palm of his hand and flew up so fast Keith had jerk and dropped his phone. "What the hell Tak-"

"Shirt up... I felt something..."

Which brought them to here.

Keith placed his own hand there and smiles. "How long do you think it will take before anyone else notices?"

"Well we are heading for Earth now and won't be going anywhere for a while... And Kolivan has nagged you ab- Oh god you've been on missions like this..." Keith pales more then him but they just found out so they could be forgiven. "Okay... Okay I'll tell him I'll be taking time off... And we need a pad from a Galra Doctor... But how without drawing their attention?"

"I wanna know more so I can take care of my husband?"

Somehow Shiro succeeds on that and they find that they still have to tell Ulaz because trying to count it out on their own was impossible.

Ulaz is just as surprised when he arrives. "I didn't think it was possible but some time I had to be wrong. But I think you'll be carrying full human term."

"Long vacation it is. And I don't think either of us will be told No."

**000**

Long vacation granted and now in a small modern house ready for their family. The Shack had caved in by one wall and while the place held a dear place to Keith it was time to let it go so Shiro collected what he could and let it fall to more ruin. Keith skillfully hid his belly in Shiro's hoodies and wrapped in blankets when their friends called and made sure that only he was only seen shoulders and up during calls. Shiro took calls in his office so Keith could walk around without to much ninja skills.

Ulaz always came to do his appointments and then came the question of birth. "Where can it be done so no one sees?"

Shiro checks the planners and finds that Altas will be docked for a long period and its during that when Keith is due, so a week before, Keith gets moved to a room there and Shiro is vibrating. "Takashi calm down."

"Nope, can't, to excited!"

"Did you raid a sugar store?"

"Baby you'll be having 3 of me in that case!"

"...Oh boy." Keith huffs in joy and feels one of then kick. "Aaand I felt an agreement. But I swear they will have my tantrums."

Shiro wasn't phased by that.

One afternoon Keith feels the kicks harder, then Shiro notices the bed was wet and that Keith was dialing and gets Ulaz. Even under safe pain-dampeners Shiro offers his metal hand to be crushed as the birthing begins but Keith doesn't get angry like he thought, but excited that it was happening and Shiro beams at him. If happiness could kill Keith was sure he was doing that to Shiro right now.

One last push and Ulaz grins as he wraps the little one in a gray blanket. "Pun."

Lady first then.

Keith smiles as their daughter is handed over in her gray blanket and she angles her face and Keith literally sees the hoard of arrows hitting Shiro at the sight of gray eyes. "Here you big goof. Careful..." He transfers her carefully to Shiro's arm and the metal one stays with Keith as they begin again and laughs breathlessly when they heard their son's little sounds as he gets wrapped in a red blanket and Keith notes the black little hat with cat ears and sees the red one on their daughter.

Ulaz glares fondly.

"Fine, since you found out first of everyone."

"Speaking of which, who is next?"

**000**

Shiro was gone for just a few minutes when he enters the room, holding a basket and freezes. Keith is still asleep in the bed, the twins in the cribs beside it...

But the people around are _not his versions._

Lance threw his hand up while the other covers his mouth and they turn to find the Black Bayard in gun form and Pidge points behind him, her finger tips walking on the palm and he moves aside as they hurry out and into a room further away and Lance is the first to lose it. "Why is Keith here and why were there babies in those cribs?!"

Shiro still holds the gun ready. "His Galra side had the ability too, which he didn't know about. He was 16 weeks along when we discovered and I fucking dare kill whoever goes near my family."

"Yep we got that detail!" Lance folds his arms and glares when his Shiro opens his mouth. "You zip it or he's sure to blast us!" Hunk finally snaps out of his cuteness overload and bounces over to Shiro's side. "They were so small and cute and those little hats-"

"Little joke gift from Ulaz, which we allowed and they were cute. Now how did you get here?"

Hunk goes serious. "We traced the ships nanites and it took time for Pidge and I to build something that could get the rift open and Kosmo brought us here, Pidge used her scanner to find the right room, we found Keith, whispers a little, Lance found the twins and then you showed up ready to blast."

Always trust Hunk to go fast and important parts.

Shiro looks at his other self and Hunk nods. "Yeah that happen. I'm guessing Keith told you."

"Told me what?"

"...He's from our reality. I saw him at the wedding before he left and when no one heard a word from him Pidge started looking into it, still pissed I knew he left but I understand why."

Shiro deactivates the bayard and nods to Hunk. "You stay here, Hunk you come with me. Being the only entity in the universe Keith would never beat the shit out off." Hunk goes with and they enter the room just as Keith wakes and smiles. "Told Hunk huh?"

"Um... The thing is Keith..." Hunk rubs his neck. "We discovered you were missing... In our reality."

Keith's eyes widens and Hunk waves his hands. "It's okay it's okay! Shiro here had us at gun point and we went along! The others are further down in a room and yes we found you and the twins, who are super cute by the way, asleep when he came in." Hunk walks over with his hands clasped behind his back and looks at Shiro. "And one of them seems to be waking up. Red blanket."

Shiro walks up and smiles before picking up his son and put him with his sister and leaves the arm there and both latches onto a finger. Hunk was a lost cause all over again and Keith smiled as Shiro sat beside him and draped his arm over him. "How old are they?" Hunk looks over.

"26 hours."

"...Oh my gosh!" His eyes are stars and the bites his lip. "Can I bring Lance and Pidge in?"

Keith clings to Shiro's hand and breaths out. "Kuron too."

"Ku- Right! Okay, him... If you feel you are ready?"

Bless that nervous blob of yellow cuteness.

Hunk returns and repeats to be quiet and Pidge hugged Keith and then asked him questions about anatomy (much to everyone's surprise) as Lance looks at them and then hums. "Grey and Red blankets... Both boys? Ow! Grey blanket threw a pacifier!"

"You insulted the lady." Keith smirks and Lance looks between and then bows down with his arms to the right. "My greatest apologies Ma'am!" He cleans the pacifier and joins his friends once the eyes are shut and sighs when Keith's shoulders are shaking he clings to the pillow and hides his face. "And Hunk even recorded that!"

"Yes thank you!" Keith's head shoots up and Hunk sends the video over. Kuron (Shiro) stands by the door and Shiro looks at him and then the others. "Well we better go outside if these two are ever going to fall on better terms." He's the last to walk past him thou. "I will break your face if you try anything to him. You fucked up your chance."

Kuron nods and walks over to the twins and in the corner of his eyes he sees Keith grab the bayard and gun forms it. Kuron's hands are behind his back and he stands about a foot away but he still sees them in the crib. "You worried your mom and Kolivan. Everyone in fact. But I guess you double secured your stay here... Married and with kids."

Keith doesn't say anything as Kuron walks to the other side of the bed and stands by the foot of it. "I just... Wanted a chance to say I'm sorry. For hurting you the way I did... I never intended it. I misunderstood the 'brother' thing... It was deeper then that, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... But the lions here wanted me to have a second chance... Give me a happy ending too..."

Kuron nods and holds his left hand out. "Friends again?"

He lets a few seconds go by before he grasps the hand. "Friends again."

"...Can I hug you? One last time..."

Keith deactivates the bayard and sits up better and he feels Kuron lip wobble. "Good luck Keith. Stay safe and happy. I'll tell your mom you're safe, but I won't hurt her about not meeting her grand kids."

"Thanks. You better head back."

Hunk, Lance and Pidge gets to say their goodbyes as well and Kosmo before he teleport them back to their reality and Shiro breaths in relief as he sinks beside Keith. "Not yet, bring our stars over?" Shiro springs up and once Keith holds them in his arms Shiro joins him and smiles when their son's purple eyes peers up at them.

"I love you Keith. Thank you, for always saving me, for coming back... And for them." His finger brushes their daughter's cheek.

"Rika and Ryou."

"...I dread their reactions."

**000**

Rika had just started crawling when the call came and she was in view behind Shiro and Allura was first to see her. _"Shiro? Who is that in the back?"_

"Grey or Red onesie?"

_"Um... Grey?"_

Shiro spins the chair and smiles as he leans forward and Rika crawls over to him and happy babbles once she's in his left arm and the video group chat is stunned. Keith walks in with Ryou freshly bathed and stands in view behind Shiro. "Did she have enough exploring?" "She wanted to cuddle." Shiro hums and then remembers he's on a group call and looks up. "So we showed our big news. Was it Allura's turn?"

Allura was gaping and Lance had long fainted beside her and Kolivan blinks back to the planet. _"Hang- Keith... He was... That's why he took 7 months of time off?!"_

"Yep. Ulaz found out first because... He had to."

_"Well now I know what to tell Thace the next time he asks where Ulaz is. Are they well?"_

Ryou sneezed and looks confused as to what happen, what was that and how did it happen? Keith smiles as he kisses the little nose. "They are just fine. But I doubt Antok will want to hold them."

_"Keith... They would disappear in his palms."_

Keith shrugs and Shiro ends the call because he wants to cuddle his family and yes he was a sap. Shiro had had another surgery for a new arm, one that was attached to his body, the size of his Galra arm and covered in synthetic skin. It measured the heat of his body and his other hand and it worked so well Shiro himself was forgetting it was a prothesis. But it made things easier...

Such as holding both his children.

Keith smiles as he unbuttons his shirt and is still awed that he can breastfeed too (what the heck body?!) and soon Shiro sits behind Keith, arms holding a twin and his chin on Keith's shoulder.

_'Thank you for this second chance Black.'_

_Don't mention it Cub._ Black opens an eye where she lays in the sun with Red's kitten form sprawled over her and Atlas in chibi form laying on Black's flank.

_Don't mention it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading and I hope no one died to fast...


	28. Yellow Rose - Fading Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith couldn't make it to Shiro's birthday. Mainly due to serious health issues that has blossomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did 2 birthday chapters, one good and one bad.

_"So you're not coming."_

"No. I'm to far away and he doesn't want me there."

_"You don't kn- Actually never mind that bit. Anything I can pick up and give him in your name?"_

"...If the shack stands, under the bed, fifth floor board from the wall there's a lose one. You'll need something thin to pry it open. There's a tin box there with some trinkets, take the dog tags and give them to his husband."

Hunk frowns sadly. _"You sure?"_

"I have no right to keep them. Or any of the stuff in the closet box."

 _"...Okay. You be careful on your mission."_   The video ends and his hand slowly falls to lay beside him.

Keith sees his reflection and a sunken face gazes back, the filter having hidden his true appearance. He ignores it to change into sleeping clothes and slips under the the covers, having just hid the datapad when the door opens and Shiax, one of the doctors on his ship, enters and holds her scanner up. "It will only be a moment Sir. Did you manage to eat anything that would stay down?"

"Some goo. It has stayed down today."

"That's good. Well I can say that it has grown worse..."

Keith coughs again and more yellow petals falls from his mouth, this time they get cleaned up and Keith softly laughs at the irony.

"Sir?"

"On Earth... There's this rose..." He taps his datapad and an image of it appears. "Flowers on Earth have secret meanings... Some positive, negative and or both. Yellow Rose... Means," He taps again and a list appears because he didn't have the breath to cite them all.

_Friendship._

_Jealousy._

_Infidelity._

_Apology._

_A broken heart._

_Intense emotion._

_Undying love._

_Extreme betrayal._

Shiax stares at the flower and the list and then at him and the petal in her hand. "I take it you will not rid of them through surgery."

Keith huffs. "He may have... He was also the first one to care, teach me things I didn't know... Yes, he did hurt me. But I'm glad I got to know him." Shiax squeezes the petal and looks at him. "Please Sir, can we at least place you in a healing pod? Perhaps slow it or have time to find a cu-"

"Shiax... I'm tired. Of fighting, of failure, of things being taken from me..."

"...Very well Sir... Perhaps something to ease the pain at least?"

Keith nods and soon falls asleep, glad that he'll have one night of painless sleep.

But Shiax refuses to accept the made up choice. She looks up what she can and dives into work to try and find anything that could save their commander.

**000**

Hunk finds the tags and holds them for a long time thinking of his options. He talks to Iverson about it and is surprised to say the least. "Those are Kogane's, we'll make others to hand over but those worn out looking ones? Keep them with you for now, because if you look at the second tag there..."

Hunk looks and sees Keith's name there. He looks up to see Iverson hold the second pairs. "They were among Shiro's things, Adam told us to wait a week before help cleaning and told us Kogane had been in there and grabbed what he wanted and that we were not to press charges."

"So we both keep these for now?"

Iverson stares at the tags in his hands. "Until Shiro realizes what he has done."

Huh... So Hunk hadn't been the only one after all.

He leaves with a nod and goes to find Coran, Romelle, Matt and his parents and shows them the tags and about his conversation with Iverson and Matt nods firmly. "Yeah keep them on you. Either Shiro comes around on his own or we'll drop hints that he's an asshole. How's Keith?"

"He looks good actually, little dark under the eyes but he looked healthy otherwise."

Matt relaxes a little. "Good. I should call him myself soon to check in, aaand include Pidge or she'll murder me."

"Oh yeah she will." Hunk nods quickly.

Coran hums quietly from his seat, stroking his mustache.

**000**

Matt and Hunk try (and fail) to look happy as they watch Shiro open gifts on his birthday and they almost crush their cups when Shiro opens a gift from Curtis and gets kissed as thanks. Hunk wished Yellow could link him with Matt for some mind chat but as the older man looks ready to murder something so he guesses they are on the same page.

It should be Keith sitting there.

"I need some air before I suffocate." Matt takes out his com-unit and as he walks away Pidge calls for him to be back for cake and he randomly waves. Hunk makes a plate for the mice and keeps his back to the party and Chulatt chews angrily and bristles up over something and Hunk frowns. "Yeah I agree. It doesn't feel right."

When the party is finally over Hunk manages to catch Shiro before he leaves and shoves a box in his hand. "Alone and God fucking help you if you don't catch the hint." He hisses to a shocked Shiro, turns around the wave at them all, death glares at Shiro and leaves.

It takes a day or two but he does get a text.

_When are you free?_

_[Get your ass to Altea.]_

A week passes and Shiro enters a room where Romelle, Coran, Hunk and the Holts are waiting. Shiro takes the remaining chair and his left hand his holding the box in view, his head bent low. Coran taps his screen and greets Shiax.

"How is he?"

_'Getting worse I fear. He told me what this Yellow Rose means and gave me a list of its meaning. It's ironic how it fits him right now.'_

"And nothing to be done?" Romelle leans closer.

_'3 options. Surgery would remove feelings and memories, Confession would clear the wines and flowers... Death is what the whole ship is trying to avoid and he's the very first recorded being to last past stage 3. I'd say he's on stage 6.'_

Romelle and Coran literally hits the floor.

Shiax looks at Hunk and the Holts and explains a Galra Disease called Hanahaki. If a love is not returned one party will develop wines and flowers of some kind and meaning that would grown in their lungs and slowly kill them unless the love was returned. Hunk wants to punch Shiro and Matt is being restrained by both his parents.

The doctor shows a feed of Keith, looking 5 times worse then the Earth Robeast fight. He was more corpse then Hyrbid and it made Hunk grab the bucket beside him and lose all his meals and Matt is dropped to the floor and he crawls up to stare at the screen.

Shiro wasn't sure his body was working anymore.

**000**

Keith wakes up during the night and finds those he had wanted to spare the truth from.

Damn it Shiax.

The mice are bundled on his chest, Kosmo's head is on his leg, Pidge has claimed his left arm and his right arm is in Shiro's...

Keith double looks and Shiro is right there, asleep leaning his upper body at the bed and his hand is holding Keith's.

There's no ring.

Shiax enters and some are started awake so Keith shuts his eyes. "Just another scan. It appears the whole universe is holding their breath about Blade Keith's status." She scans him and frowns at the result and the shows Coran. "He's to weak to wake up... You may not have a chance to atone Admiral."

Keith feels his right hand lose blood and Pidge reaches over him. "Stop that you're going to pulverize it!" The grip eases and Pidge returns to her spot but slips away. "Who wants to walk the corridor with me?" There some agreements and the room clears of everyone but Shiro.

Why was he here.

"I'm sorry Keith. For everything... Had I realized sooner you wouldn't be fading in this bed. Please... Please talk to me one last time? I'm sorry... I need to hear you- Either forgive me or..." Keith slits his eye to see Shiro cry and raises Keith's thin, now bony hand and kiss it. "Please let me hear you one last time..."

No what he wants to heeear. (🎵Sing-songs🎵)

He stays quiet til Shiro looks up again and runs the back of his human finger over Keith's cheek.

"I love you..."

(Now we're talkin'.)

Keith lets it sink in and feels the wines and flowers start to work out of his system, Shiax and the other doctors rushes in and Shiro is pressing and sliding against the wall in dread and holds Krolia's arm before Kolivan gets them out. Keith knew he was to weak to even survive this but he hears that the stem as been expelled and feels gentle hands run wet wipes over his skin and falls asleep again.

He has no idea how long he was out for but its daylight and Shiro is back in the chair, this time looking horrible and his eyes are red and puffy, his hair is matte and he has stubble on his chin. Kolivan looks even older and Krolia has her face hidden in her knees so he can't tell if she too aged like 100 years.

There's no sight of anyone else.

The TV is on and Keith thinks its Lance talking about Keith's condition and that all missions was to be on hold for now as they wait.

Kolivan turns his head to look and frowns, stares at him long and finally gets up slowly, making his way over and lowers down a little. His dull eyes widens and lips part when Keith opens his eyes more and lips twitch beneath the oxygen mask. "Kit?" Kolivan whispers and carefully run his finger tips over Keith's skin, Keith didn't even know Galra could retract their claws. He blinks a few times and tilts his head to the finger tips and whatever weight had been on Kolivan seemed to drop away as he sinks on his knees and-

Keith must be on some good meds if he saw Kolivan crying.

"You're b-back.."

...Holy shit above Kolivan was crying...

Did Keith just purr? He must have because there was a smile added to the tears now...

"Kolivan?"

Whup! Krolia!

She came closer to the bed and Shiro startles awake at her cry and sinks back as the tears break free again.

**000**

Keith sees his reflection in the mirror and understands Lance and James' visible body shivers and how careful everyone is with him. It was going to take years for him to regain all his lost body mass. The disease had left him weaker then ever and even a slight cold could take him out.

He kinda regrets not using the healing pod to-

Keith jumps when everything goes gray but his own body has colors and sees Black come towards him and he gulps. "I am so dead aren't I?

_'The thought crossed. Red is not happy you know.'_

Yup he was dead.

Black seems to look him over and shakes her head. _'Well? Shall we send you to when it first appeared? Or have you continue down this path?'_

"Can I see what would have happen if I did?"

Black ponders but finally nods and he feels no weakness or pain as he stands to follow her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was halfway through the good version when I realized I hadn't posted the bad one here xD
> 
> ...possibly coz it was 02:27AM...


	29. Yellow Rose Birthday - Pod Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The good ending of the birthday fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to post here days early coz I would have missed Shiro's birthday 😅😅

"So you're not coming."

_"No. I'm to far away and he doesn't want me there_."

"You don't kn- Actually never mind that bit. Anything I can pick up and give him in your name?"

_"...Yellow Rose."_

Hunk's brows shoots up. "You sure?"

_"Yep."_

"...Okay. You be careful on your mission." The video ends and Keith sighs, coughing slightly.

Keith sees his reflection and a slightly sunken face gazes back when the door opens and Shiax, one of the doctors on his ship, enters and holds her scanner up. "Sir? Apologies if I interrupt."

"Not at all.

"Very well. I'd like to scan you again if it's alright"

Keith coughs again and more yellow petals falls from his mouth, this time they get cleaned up and Keith softly laughs at the irony.

"Sir?"

"On Earth... There's this rose..." He taps his datapad and an image of it appears. "Flowers on Earth have secret meanings... Some positive, negative and or both. Yellow Rose... Means," He taps again and a list appears because he didn't have the breath to cite them all.

Friendship.

Jealousy.

Infidelity.

Apology.

A broken heart.

Intense emotion.

Undying love.

Extreme betrayal.

Shiax stares at the flower and the list and then at him and the petal in her hand. "I take it will not rid of them through surgery."

Keith huffs. "He may have... He was also the first one to care, teach me things I didn't know... Yes, he did hurt me. But I'm glad I got to know him." Shaix squeezes the petal and looks at him. "Please Sir, can we at least place you in a healing pod? Perhaps slow it or have time to find a cu-"

"I don't think there's a cure but I've heard horror stories about how Ulaz treat his patients. Please don't become my version of him?"

"If you set a good example I might spare you that."

Keith nods and changes into the white suit she had with her and sits the wheelchair a trainee waits with outside his room and hears a small sigh of relief from them as they head to the healing pod room. Shiax and another doctor helps him inside and he wonder if you dream in Cryo.

**000**

Shiro holds the yellow rose, reading the note and willingly digs the pad of his left thumb into the thorn and keeps it there to feel the pain. He leans his head back and tries to fight the tears but it's useless...

He would never forgive himself for this.

Thankful that he had lied about his birthday to Curtis to be in September it gave them plenty of time (for Shiro) to glide apart and one day Shiro started to pack his things and Curtis didn't stop him when he came home with a folder and slaps it on the dinner table.

They hadn't really talked to each other much since he peaked at Shiro's conversations with his former team and found he was never mentioned once.

Only Keith.

Shiro gets back in active duty and finds Kolivan when he can and asks about Keith but the response leaves him trembling.

"There been no word from him in months. Or his crew."

It doesn't even take a day to prepare the Atlas. Iverson throws himself by the weapon console and Veronica slips on the floor, grabs her console before she hits the floor back first and hauls herself in the chair. The hanger and cargo bay is a pissed off ant colony of activity and wormholes open every second.

Shiro is honest to god surprised that the wide announcement got so much attention and help.

**000**

Shaix grumbles as the techs fails again to bring the ship back to life. "How much power can be reverted to the healing pod?"

"About 46%."

"Do it. The pod is the only thing slowing the Commander's illness right now." The techs nods as Acxa enters. "We're reverting power to the pod. How's the fuel?"

"Low. That storms took out a good portion of the ship and evaporated most liquids. What was that anyway?"

"That I don't care about Captain! What I care about right now is to not lose our Commander!"

Acxa and several Blades blinks and hurries back to work, making Shaix sigh. "Can we at least call for help?"

"Comms are out."

Damn that energy storm. She goes to tend to another Blade that had been thrown around like a doll during the tremors and splits the leg, giving instructions to the Blade that brought them in and gives them leave before checking the pod where Keith was still in Cryo sleep and finds that even in the pod the illness gets worse, but slower. But being stuck like this they will lose him for sure since the storm hit right in the middle of report hour so any reports hadn't gone through, meaning no one knew where they were.

She tugs her hair and leans against the console. "I'm sorry Sir... I... I don't know what to do anymore."

Lights flickers back on and a blade darts in. "The Atlas is here!"

"Quickly help me detach the pod!" They clear the ship in less then 20 minutes and Shaix barks orders on the way to the nearest med bay and they quickly set the pod in a free socket and Shaix quickly taps on a screen. "Atlas I beg you to give as much power you can. The pod is failing!"

The lights around them shine a little brighter and the pod's levels finally gets steady after being on the borders of red and yellow for so long. The Atlas Captain rushes in and a blade holds him back with some effort and Shiax makes her final adjustments before looking at him. "Now you decide to show up?"

"What happened?!" He screams and Shiax takes a moment to study him; his wide pupils, rapid breathing, shaking body and distressed sounds. She also remembers his records... He had been ill too.

She hates to do it...

But he hurt their commander.

"You are aware that your illness have been untraceable correct?"

The Captain looks at her in confusion but nods and Shaix taps on a datapad. "Looks like he made a trade; His fine health for your illness." Yep, she broken him good. He sinks to his knees after staggering to the pod and his hands are fists over the glass, his body shacking with the sobs and the room is cleared to leave them alone when the other Paladins arrive and Shaix repeats her words. The Green one looks destroyed and the Blue tries to deny it out loud, the yellow one is over by the Atlas Captain rubbing his back.

"Can you bring him out? Is he well enough to talk?"

"Yes and not so sure about that. But I needed to run some tests anyway. Please leave for a moment and call in the medical team."

It takes about 30 minutes before they get called in and finds their friend awake in the bed and the mice all squeaking and hugging his face, he looks up when they get close. "I didn't want you to know."

"Tough luck, we do now and what the hell?! Shiro was a mess when we got here!"

Something flashed in those purple eyes. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with-"

Shiro's metal arm grabs Pidge by the scruff of her uniform jacket and the other two catches the hint, the door closes after the arm returns to his side and in his left hand is a yellow rose. "I betrayed you."

"Mhm."

"I broke you heart."

"Mmmhm."

"I ruined our friendship."

"Not that badly."

"...You were jealous."

Keith huffs. "Was even when Adam was around."

"...You still love me... Undyingly."

"...Glad you caught the hint."

Shiro reaches into his pocket and brings up a small pamphlet with the picture of the yellow rose. "Had some guidance... Are you... Did you really trade?"

"Hm?"

"Your health to me... And my illness to you."

Keith doesn't have to guess where that idea came from. "I would," Shiro inhales sharply. "If it had been possible. This is a Galra thing however; Hanahaki Disease, born from unrequired love. It's said that the patient's throat will fill up with flower, they will then proceed to throw, and cough up the petals, sometimes even the flowers. Only ways to rid of it is if the feelings are returned before it's to late, a surgery but that will remove the feelings... And death."

Death had barely been uttered before the other man threw himself over Keith clinging crying in his neck and Keith was honestly surprised. "In my case... There's only de-"

"I love you too."

Death by imploding mind and heart what the hell man?

"...You don't-"

"I do mean it. I was blind and stupid to not see your feelings, to remember what you said at the cloning facility... Will you ever forgive me?"

Keith studies him for a long time and Shiro's head lowers thinking he had ruined everything forever when Keith smiles and cups Shiro's cheek to make him look up. "Yes Takashi. I do forgive you."

**000**

Shiro spent his birthday with just Keith and smiles when a red rose is placed on the table and Keith sinks into his lap. Shiro runs his human hand over Keith's chest and nuzzles close. "No pain?" "No, it's gone and we cheat death again. At this point people will think we are immortal."

"If it keeps you like this in my arms. Thank you for using the healing pod."

"Happy birthday Takashi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love them ❤❤❤

**Author's Note:**

> I now have twitter [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thy_emi)


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